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PARSOIS ON THE EOSE 



A TREATISE ON THE 



Propagation, Culture, and History of the Rose. 



BY 

SAMUEL B. PARSONS. 



NEW AND REVISED EDITION 



ILLUSTRATED. 




NEW YORK: 
ORANGE JUDD AND COMPANY, 

245 BROADWAY. 

/ y6 1 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, "by 

ORANGE JUDD & CO., 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern 

District of New York. 



LovEJOY, Son & Co., 
Electbotypeks & Stereotypees, 
15 Vandewater Street, N. Y, 



PREFACE. 



In offering a new edition of this work, the preparation 
of which gave us pleasure more than twenty years ago, 
we have not only carefully revised the garden classifica- 
tion, but have stricken out much of the poetry, which to 
he cultivator may have seemed irrelevant if not worthless. 

For the interest of the classical scholar we have retain- 
ed much of the early history of the Rose, and its connec- 
tion with the manners and customs of the two great na- 
tions of a former ao-e. 

For many interesting facts in the History and Culture 
of the Rose, we are indebted to Deslongchamps, Vibert, 
Laffay, and several anonymous writers. To the former we 
wish most fully to express our obligations, both for the 
plan of this work and for many interesting facts and re- 
searches, to which we cannot conveniently attach his name 
in the body of the work. 

Upon the classification we have bestowed much thought, 
and although we do not feel quite satisfied with the system 
we have adopted, it is the best that occurs to us in the 
present condition of rose culture. The amateur will, we 

' & 



IV 



PARSONS OX THE EOSE. 



think, find the labor of selection much diminished bv the 
increased simplicity of the mode we have adopted, while 
the commercial gardener will in nowise be injured by the 
change. 

In directions for culture, we give the results of our own 
experience, and have not hesitated to avail ourselves of 
any satisfactory results in the experience of others, which 
might enhance the utility of the work. 

We do not claim exemption from criticism in any form, 
and readily express our willingness to be ever open to 
conviction, in a field where, among the varied results of 
experiment and skill, there is much room for difference of 
opinion. 

For our labor we shall feel abundantly compensated, if 
the republication of this work shall in any way tend tQ 
produce a more general admiration and increased culture 
of the most beautiful flower known* S. B. P, 



CONTENTS. 

♦ 

^ CHAPTER I. 
Botanical Classification 7 

CHAPTER 11. 

Garden Classification 27 

CHAPTER III. 

General Culture of the Rose 69 

CHAPTER IV. 

Soil, Situation, and Planting 86 

CHAPTER V. 

Pruning, Training, and Bedding 93 

CHAPTER VI. 

Potting and Forcing 102 

CHAPTER VII. 

Propagation 113 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Multiplication by Seed and Hybridizing 130 

CHAPTER IX. 

Diseases and Insects Attacking the Rose 140 

CHAPTER X. 

Early History of the Rose, and Fables Respecting its Origin 153 

5 



VI PARSOXS OX THE ROSE. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Luxurious Use of the Rose 161 

CHAPTER XII. 

The Rose in Ceremonies and Festivals, and in the Adornment of 

Burial-places 167 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Rose in the Middle Ages 175 

CHAPTER XIV. 
Perfumes of the Rose ; 185 

CHAPTER XV. 

'Medical Properties of the Rose 198 

CHAPTER XVI. 
General Remarks 202 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE 



CHAPTER I. 

BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 

The Rose is a shrub or dwarf tree, with mostly decidu- 
ous foliage, and large, beautiful, and fragrant flowers. Its 
branches are slender, almost always armed with thorns, 
thinly furnished with leaves, which are alternate upon the 
stem. Its leaves are pinnate, and vary in color and char- 
acter, from the rich, dark green, and somewhat rough leaf 
of La Reine, to the glossy smoothness and rich purple 
edge of Chromatella. The blossoms are variously ar- 
] anged at the extremity of the newly formed branches. 
The calyx is single and tubular, swelling at its lower part, 
contracted at its opening, and divided at the edge into 
five lance-pointed divisions, which are whole or pinnati- 
fid. The corolla is inserted at the mouth of the tube of 
the calyx, and is composed of five heart-shaped petals, 
Avhicli constitute the Rose in its sino;le or natural state. 
The double blossoms are formed by the change of the 
stamens and pistils into petals or flower leaves, shorter 
than those of the corolla proper. The fruit or seed ves- 
sel, or hip^ is formed by the tube of the calyx, which be- 
comes plump and juicy, globular or oviform, having but 
one cell, and containing numerous small, one-seeded, dry 
7 



8 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



fruits, which usually pass for seeds ; these are oval or 
globular, and surrounded with a soft down. The wood 
is very hard and compact, and of fine grain ; and if it 
could be procured of sufficient size, would serve as a sub- 
stitute for box in many kinds of manufacture. The lon- 
gevity of the Rose is, perhaps, greater than that of any 
other shrub. We recollect seeing a rose-tree near an old 
castle in Stoke Xewington, England, the stem of which 
was of immense size, and mdicated great age. " There is 
a rose-bush flourishing at the residence of A. Murray 
Mcllvaine, near Bristol, (Penu.,) known to be more than 
a hundred years old. In the year 1742, there was a 
kitchen built, which encroached on the corner of the gar- 
den, and the masons laid the corner-stone with great care, 
saying ' it was a ])itY to destroy so pretty a bush.' Since 
then, it has never failed to produce a profusion of roses, 
shedding around the most delicious of all perfumes. 
Sometimes it has climbed for years over the second-story 
windows, and then declined by degrees to the ordinary 
height. The fifth, generation is now regaled with its 
sweets." 

The number cf species knovm to the ancients was small, 
compared with the number now recognized by botanists. 
Pliny, with whom we find the most detail on this jDoint, 
says that the most esteemed were those of Proeneste and 
Paestum, which were, perhaps, identical; those of Cam- 
pania and Malta, of a bright red color, and having but 
twelve petals ; the white roses of Heraclea, in Greece, 
and those of Alabande, which seem to be identical with 
H, centi folia. According to the Roman naturalist and to 
Theophrastus, they grew naturally on Mount Panga, and 
produced there very small flowers ; yet the inhabitants of 
Philippi went there to obtain them, and the bushes on be- 
ing transplanted, produced much improved and beautiful 
roses. Pliny speaks also of some other species, one whose 
flowers were single, another which he terms Spinola^ and 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



9 



also that of Carthage, which bloomed in winter. Unfor- 
tunately, all that we find in his works on this subject is, 
generally, very obscure, and it is difficult to compare many 
he has described with those known at the present day. 

Although there are no double wild roses known at the 
present day, either in Europe or in this country, yet, as 
other flowers have been found double in a wild state, it is 
not impossible that some of the ancient varieties bore 
double flowers in their native condition in the fields. Such 
may have been the Centifolias^ mentioned by Pliny and 
Theophrastus, as growing upon Mount Panga, and those 
which, at a still earlier period, according to Herodotus, 
grew wild in Macedonia, near the ancient gardens of 
Midas. 

The poverty in description which we have observed in 
ancient writings, and their comparatively small number 
of species, extends also to a much later day. In a little 
treatise published in France in 1536, and entitled De re 
Horteyisis JLihelluo^ there afe but four species mentioned, 
and scarcely anything concerning their culture. An 
Italian work published in 1563 mentions only eight spe- 
cies. In the Florilegium of Sweet, a folio volume printed 
at Frankfort in 1612, are ten very coarse representations 
of roses, but with no indication of their names. 

In the Paradisus Terrestris of Parkinson, a folio volume 
printed at London in 1629, some twenty-four kinds are 
mentioned. Some of them are represented by figures in 
wood, which are very coarse, and scarcely allow recogni- 
tion of their species. In the Jardinier ITolIando is ^ print- 
ed at Amsterdam in 1669, are found but fourteen species 
of roses, very vaguely described, with scarcely anything - 
on culture. 

The first work which treated of roses with any degree 
of method is that of La Quintyne, published at Paris in 
1690, and yet its details of the diSerent species and varie- 
ties do not occupy more than a page and a half, while 
1* 



10 



PARSONS ON THE KOSE. 



twenty-one pages are given to the culture of tulips, and 
fifty to pinks. Though he describes two hundred and 
twenty-five varieties of pinks, and four hundred and thir- 
teen tulips, he mentions only fourteen species and varieties 
of roses. For a century subsequent to the publication of 
La Quintyne's work, the Rose is very little mentioned, 
either in English or French works, and there is nothing 
to indicate the existence at that time of many species, 
two or thre^ only being required for medicine and per- 
fumery. Some of the English collections, however, num- 
bered during that century some twenty-two distinct spe- 
cies, and a number of varieties. In 1762, Linnaeus was 
acquainted with only fourteen species. In 1799, Wilde- 
now, in his Species Plantar'um^ mentioned thirty-nine ; 
and Persoon, a little later, reached forty-five species; De 
Candolle, in his Prodromiis^ published in 1825, in- 
creased the number to one hundred and forty-six ; and 
Don, in 1832, makes t*wo hundred and five species. If to 
these are added those which have been within fifteen years 
discovered in the Himalaya Mountains, and in other parts 
of the globe, the number will be greatly increased. 

Many of those enumerated by Don should not, in truth, 
be considered distinct species, and quite a number are 
nothing more than varieties. In fact, roses are so liable 
to pass into each other, that botanists are now of the 
opinion that limits between many of those called species 
do not exist ; a fact which was strongly suspected by 
Linnaeus, when he said, " Species limitibus difficillime cir- 
cumscribuntur, et forte natura non eos posuit.'' 

There is much confusion in the genus Rosa, and in the 
best arrangement there may be many, which, on close 
examination, would scarcely deserve the name of species. 
The best scientific work on the Rose is the " Monographia 
Rosarum," by Dr. Lindley. This author, and Loudon, we 
shall follow entirely in our botanical classification. The 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



> 

11 



latter enumerates several other works on the Rose, which 
are not within our reach. 

The Rose is found in almost every part of the northern 
hemisphere, between the 19th and 70th degrees of lati- 
tude. 

Captain Fremont, (now General Fremont) in his de- 
scription of the prairies some five hundred miles west of 
St. Louis, says, " Everywhere the Rose is met with, and 
reminds us of cultivated gardens and civilization. It is 
scattered over the prairies in small bouquets, and, when 
glittering in the dews and waving in the pleasant breeze 
of the early morning, is the most beautiful of the prairie 
flowers." 

It is found from the mountains of Mexico to Hudson's 
Bay, from the coast of Barbary to Sweden, in Lapland 
and Siberia, from Spain to the Indies, China, and Kam- 
schatka. " In Asia, half the species have been found ; of 
the thirty-nine which it produces, eighteen are natives of 
the Russian dominions and the countries adjacent. Most 
of these are very similar to the European portion of the 
genus, and five are common to both Europe and Asia. 
Of the remainder, one, which is, perhaps, a distinct genus, 
has been discovered in Persia, fifteen in China, and two 
of the latter, with four others, in the north of India. 

We shall not here describe all the species mentioned by 
Lindley and Loudon; but only those which are the par- 
ents of our garden sorts. A large part of the species 
described by these authors cannot be found in any collec- 
tion in this country ; and, in fact, very few^ possess any 
interest except to the botanist. The descriptions here 
given are mainly abbreviated from those of Loudon. 

BRACTEAT^.— Bracted Roses. 

This section is readily distinguished by the woolliness 
of branches and fruit. Leaves dense, usually shining; 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



prickles placed under the stipules in pairs. Sepals simple, 
or nearly so. 

R. bracteata, Wendi. — The Lakge-bracted Rose. — 
Macartney Rose. Evergreen. Branches upright. Prick- 
les stout, recurved, in many instances in pairs. Leaflets 
5 — 9, obovate, subserrate, coriaceous, glossy, glabrous. 
Stipules scarcely attached to the petiole, bristle-shaped, 
but fringed. Peduncles and calyxes tomentose. Flowers 
showy, pure white, solitary, nearly sessile. Fruit spheri- 
cal, orange red. Native of China ; growing to the height 
of five feet or six feet, and flowering from June to Octo- 
ber. 

A very ornamental shrub, evergreen, with large w^hite 
flowers, and numerous bright yellow stamens and styles. 
It flowers abundantly, but is rather tender in England. It 
succeeds best when trained ao-ainst a wall. 

R. micropbylla^ Hoxb. — The Small-leafleted Rose. 
— Hoi-tong-hong, Chinese. Stem almost without prickles. 
Leaflets glossy, sharply serrated, veiny beneath, with 
densely netted, anastomosing veins. Stipules very nar- 
row, unequal. Calyx densely invested with prickles. 
Sepals short, broadly ovate, bristly, ending in a point. 
Prickles having at the base two longitudinal furrows. 
Flowers very large, double, and of a delicate blush color. 
Native of China; growing to the height of tAvo feet or 
three feet, and flowering from August to October. 

PIMPINELLIFOLIiE. Lindl. 

Plants bearing crowded, nearly equal, prickles, or un- 
armed. Bractless, rarely bracteate. Leaflets ovate or 
oblong. Sepals connivent, permanent. Disk almost 
wantino*. 

This section is essentially difierent from the last in 
habit, but in artificial characters they approach very near- 
ly. It, however, may be distinguished by the great num- 
ber of leaflets, which vary from seven to thirteen, and 
even to fifteen, instead of from five to seven. The flow- 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



13 



ers are also without bracts, except in some species not 
mentioned here. These, having counivent permanent se- 
pals, cannot be confounded Avith the preceding division ; 
nor, on account of their disk, with the following. There 
is no instance of stipular prickles in the present tribe. 
The sepals are entire, or nearly so. 

R, sulphurea^ Ait, — The Sulphur-colored Rose. — 
The Double Yellow Rose. Synonyms. R. hemispherica, 
Iferm, R. glaucopbylla, Ehrh, Rosa lutea flore pleno, Mai. 
Hist. R. lutea, Srot. Stipules linear, divaricate, dilated 
at the apex. Leaflets glaucous, flattish. Tube hemispheri- 
cal. Stem prickles unequal, scattered. Flowers large, of 
a fine transparent yellow, always double. Native of the 
Levant ; growing to the height of from four feet to ten 
feet, and flowering in July. 

This sort does not flower freely, except in open, airy 
situations and trained against a wall, exposed to the 
north or east, rather than to the south. Its flower buds 
are apt to burst on one side before they expand, and, con- 
sequently, to become deformed; to prevent this, the 
blossom buds should be thinned, and care taken that they 
have abundance of light and air. Watering it freely in 
the flowering season is also found advantageous, and the 
shoots in general ought not to be shortened. This beau- 
tiful species is said to flower freely, if grafted on the musk 
cluster at eight feet or ten feet from the ground ; or it 
will do well on the China rose. It is grown in great 
abundance in Italy, where its flowers produce a magnifi- 
cent effect, from their large size, doubleness, and brilliant 
yellow color. It is one of the oldest inhabitants of our 
gardens, though the exact year of its introduction is un- 
known. " Ludovico Berthema tells us, in 1503, that he 
saw great quantities of yellow roses at Calicut, whence it 
appears probable that both the single and double-flow- 
ered varieties were brought into Europe by the Turks ; as 
Parkinson tells us, in a work which he dedicated to Hen- 
rietta, the queen of our unfortunate Charles I., that the 



14 



PAESONS OX THE ROSE. 



double yellow rose ' was first procured to be brought to 
England by Master Nicholas Lete, a worthy merchant of 
London, and a great lover of flowers, from Constantino- 
ple, which (as we hear) was first brought thither from 
Syria, but perished quickly, both with him, and with all 
others to whom he imparted it ; yet afterward it was 
sent to Master John de Frangueville, a merchant of Lon- 
don, and a great lover of all rose plants, as well as flow- 
ers, from which is sprung the greatest store that is now 
flourishiho; in this kinofdom.' " 

R, spinosissima^X. — The Most Spiny, or Scotch Rose. 
— Prickles unequal. Leaflets flat, glabrous, simply ser- 
rated. A dwarf, compact bush, with creeping suckers. 
Flowers small, solitary, white or blush-colored. Fruit 
ovate, or nearly round, black or dark purple. ]S"ative of 
Europe ; plentiful in Britain. Shrub, one foot to two feet 
high ; flowering in May and June. 

Varieties. A great many varieties of this rose have been 
raised, with flowers double, semi-double, white, purple, 
red, and even yellow. The first double variety was found 
in a wild state, in the neighborhood of Perth. 

CENTIFOmS.— HUNDKED-LEAVED RoSES. 

Shrubs, all bearing bristles and prickles. Peduncles 
bracteate. Leaflets oblong or ovate, wrinkled. Disk 
thickened, closing the throat. Se])als compound. This 
division comprises the portion of the genus Bosa which 
has most particularly interested the lover of flowers. It 
is probable that the earliest roses of which there are any 
records of being cultivated, belonged to this section ; but 
to which particular species those of Cyrene or Mount 
Panga are to be referred, it is now too late to inquire. 
The attar of Roses, which is an important article of com- 
merce, is either obtained from roses belonging to this di- 
vision indiscriminately, as in the manufactory at Florence, 
conducted by a convent of friars ; or from some particu- 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATIOX. 



15 



lar kind, as in Inclin. It appears, from specimens brought 
from Chizapore by Colonel Hardwicke, that i2. Damascena 
is there exclusively used for obtaining the essential oil. 
The Persians also make use of a sort which Koempfer 
calls R, Shirazensis^ (from its growing about Shiraz), in 
preference to others ; this may be either i?. Damascena 
Gallica^ or li. centifolia^ or, perhaps, moschata. 
The species contained in the present^ section are all setig- 
erous, by which they are distinguished from the follow- 
ing divisions; their thickened disk and divided sepals 
separate them from the preceding. To the section of 
Rubiginosse the glanduliferous sorts approach ; but the 
difference of their glands, the size of their flow^ers, and 
their dissimilar habit, prevent their being confounded. 

R. Damascena. — The Damascus, or Damask Rose. — 
Rose a quatre Saisons. Synonyms, R. Belgica, 3IilL 
R. calendarum. Munch, R. bifera, Poir, Prickles une- 
qual, the large ones falcate. Sepals reflexed. Fruit elon- 
gated. Native of Syria. Flow^ers large, white or red, 
single or double. The present species may be distinguish- 
ed from R, centifolia by the greater size of the prickles, 
the greenness of the bark, the elongated fruit, and the 
long, reflexed sepals. The petals of this species, and all 
the varieties of R. centifolia^ as well as those of other 
species, are employed indiscriminately for the purpose of 
making rose-water. A shrub, growing from two feet to 
eight feet high, and flowering in June and July 

This species is extremely beautiful, from the size and 
brilliant color of its flowers. It is asserted by some 
writers to have been brought from Damascus in Syria at 
the time of the Crusades, but there is every probability 
that it came from Italy, since it is the same as the Rlfera^ 
or the twice-bearing rose of the ancient Roman gardeners, 
and is the original type of onr Remontant Roses. The 
Roman gardeners could have produced a certain autumnal 
bloom only by a sort of retarding process ; for, although 
the Damask Rose will, under peculiar circumstances, bloom 



16 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



in autumn of its OAvn accord, yet it cannot always be re- 
lied upon to do so. During tiie early period of the French 
monarchy, when none of the Remontant Roses were 
known, and this species was common, it was considered 
quite a phenomenon to see them appear naturally in win- 
ter. Gregory, of Tours, speaking of the year 584, says, 
" This year many prodigies appeared, and many calami- 
ties afflicted the people, for roses were seen blooming in 
January, and a circle was formed around the sun." And 
of the year 589 he says, " This year trees blossomed in 
autumn, and bore fruit the second time, and roses ap- 
peared in the ninth month." 

R, centifolia^Xm. — The huis-dred-petaled, Prove:n^ce, 
OR Cabbage Rose. — Synonyms, R. provincial is, Mill. 
R. polyantbos, JRossig. R. caryophyllea. Pair. R. ungui- 
culata, Z>65/. R. varians, PoA^. Prickles unequal, the larger 
ones falcate. Leaflets ciliated with glands. Flowers 
drooping. Calyxes clammy. Fruit oblong. Native of 
Eastern Caucasus, in groves. Flowers white or red ; sin- 
gle, but most commonly double. 

This species is distinguished from J?. Damascena by the 
sepals not being reflexed, and the flowers having their 
petals curved inwards, so as, in the double state, to give 
the flower the appearance of the heart of a cabbage, 
whence the name of the Cabbage Rose. Its fruit is either 
oblong or roundish, but never elongated. From Gal-, 
Ilea it is distinguished by the flowers being drooping, and 
by the larger size of the prickles, with a more robust 
habit. A shrub, growing from three feet to six feet high, 
and flowering in June and July. When this rose becomes 
unthrifty from age, it is renewed by cutting ofl* the stems 
close to the ground as soon as the flowers have fallen; 
shoots will then be produced, sufficiently vigorous to fur- 
nish a beautiful and abundant bloom the following spring. 

Vci7neties, Above one hundred varieties have been as- 
signed to this species, and classed in three divisions : 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



17 



Yar. proyincialis includes the Provence, or Cabbage 
Roses. 

Var. muSCOSa comprises tlie Moss Roses. 

Var. pomponia^ the Pompone Roses. According to 
Loudon, we have made this a variety of J?, centifolia^ 
although some authors assert it to have been found 
growing wild in 1735, by a gardener of Dijon, in France, 
who discovered it while cutting wood on a mount- 
ain near that city. Many varieties of it have been ob- 
tained, among which, the most singular is the little dwarf 
given in the New Du Hamel as a distinct species. It 
does not grow more than twelve or fifteen inches high, 
and frequently perishes before blossoming. 

Var. bipmnata^ JRed^ has bipinnate leaves. 

R. Gallica^ X. — The French, or. Provence Rose. 
Red Rose. — Synonyms. R. centifolia, 3IilL R. sylva- 
tica, Gater, R. rubra, Lam. R. holosericea, Hossig, R. 
Belgica, JBrot. R. blanda, JBrot Prickles unequal. Stip- 
ules narrow, divaricate at the tip. Leaflets, 5 — 7, coria- 
ceous, rigid, ovate or lanceolate, deflexed. Flower bud 
ovate-globose; Sepals spreading during the time of the 
flowering. Fruit, subglobose, very coriaceous. Calyx 
and peduncle more or less hispid with glanded hairs, 
somewhat viscose. 

A species allied to i?. centifolia^ X., but with round 
fruit, and very coriaceous leaflets, with more numerous 
nerves, that are a little prominent, and are anastomosing. 
Native of middle Europe and Caucasus, in hedges. The 
flowers vary from red to crimson, and from single to 
double ; and there is one variety with the flowers double 
white. The petals of some of the varieties of this rose 
are used in medicine, which, though not so fragrant as 
those of the Dutch hundred-leaved rose, also one of the 
varieties of this species, are preferred for their beautiful 
color and their pleasant astringency. The petals of R. 
GalUca are those which are principally used for making 
conserve of roses, and, when dried, for gargles : their odor 



18 



PAKSONS ON THE ROSE. 



is increased by drying. They are also used in common 
with those of It, centifolia^ for making rose-water and 
attar of roses. This rose was called by old writers the 
Red Hose, and is supposed to have been the one assumed 
as the badge of the House of Lancaster. This, also, is 
one of the roses mentioned by Pliny ; from which, he 
says, all the others have been derived. It is often con- 
founded with the Damask rose. 

Varieties, The varieties of this species are very numer- 
ous. One of the most distinct is Van parvifolia. (R. 
parvifolia, JEhr, R. Burgundiaca, Rossig, R. remensis, 
Desf,) The Burgundy Rose. — dwarf, compact shrub, 
with stiff, ovate acute, and sharply serrated small leaflets, 
and very double purple flowers, which are solitary, and * 
have some resemblance, in form and general appearance, 
to the flower of a double-flowered Asiatic Ranunculus. 

VILLOSiE.— Hairy Eoses. 

Suckers erect. Prickles straightish. Leaflets ovate or 
oblong, with diverging serratures. Sepals connivent, per- 
manent. Disk thickened, closing the throat. This divi- 
sion borders equally close upon those of Caninae and Rubi- 
ginosse. From both it is distinguished by its root-suckers 
being erect and stout. The most absolute marks of dif- 
ference, however, between this and Caninae, exist in the 
prickles of the present section being straight, and the ser- 
ratures of the leaves diverging. If, as is sometimes the 
case, the prickles of this tribe are falcate, the serratures 
become more diverging. The permanent sepals are an- 
other character by which this tribe may be known from 
Canina3. Rubiginosse cannot be confounded with the 
present section, on account of the unequal hooked prick- 
les and glandular leaves of the species. Roughness of 
fruit and permanence of sepals are common to both. 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



10 



R. alba, Z/?^. — The Common White Rose. — Leaflets 
oblong, glaucous, rather naked above, simply serrated. 
Prickles straightish or flilcate, slender or strong, without 
bristles. Sepals pinnate, reflexed. Fruit unarmed. Na- 
tive o*f Piedmont, Cochin China, Denmark, France, and 
Saxony. Flowers large, either white, or of the most 
delicate blush color, Avith a grateful fragrance. Fruit ob- 
long, scarlet, or blood-colored. A shrub, growing from 
four feet to ten feet in heig-ht, and llowerino: in June and 



RTIBIGIITOSiE.— Brier Roses. 



Prickles unequal, sometimes bristle-formed, rarely want- 
ing. Leaflets ovate or oblong, glandular, with diverging 
serratures. Sepals permanent. Disk thickened. Root- 
shoots arched. The numerous glands on the lower surface 
of the leaves will be sufiicient to prevent anything else 
beins: referred to this section ; and althouo-h 72. tomentosa 
has sometimes glandular leaves, the inequality of the 
prickles of the species of Rubiginosa3, and their red fruit, 
will clearly distinguish them. This division includes all 
the Eglantine, or Sweet-brier Roses. 

R, rubiil^iliosa Lhi, — Rusty-leaved Rose, Sweet- 
Brier, or Eglantine. — R. suavifolia, Liglitf, R. Eglan- 
teria, Mill, R. agrestis, SavL R. rubiginosa parviflora, 
RaiL Prickles hooked, compressed, with smaller straight- 
er ones interspersed. Leaflets elliptical, doubly serrated, 
hairy, clothed beneath with rust-colored glands. Sepals 
pinnate, and bristly, as well as the peduncles. Fruit obo- 
vate, bristly toward the base. Native throughout Europe, 
and of Caucasus. In Britain, in bushy places, on a dry 
gravelly or chalky soil. Leaves sweet-scented when 
bruised, and resembling the fragrance of the Pippin Apple. 
When dried in the shade, and prepared as a tea, they 
make a healthful and pleasant beverage. 

This species is extensively used in Europe for the for- 
mation of Tea Roses, and it is estimated that two hund- 
red thousand are budded annually in the vicinity of 



20 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



Paris alone. The species is very vigorous, but does not 
seem to answer well in our hot sun. The change from 
its native shaded thickets and hedges is too much for 
its tall, exposed stem, and, although the stock nyiy not 
itself die, yet the variety budded upon it will fre- 
quently perish in two or three years. This is doubt- 
less partly owing to a want of analogy between tbe 
stock and the variety given it for nourishment, but that 
the former is the prominent evil is evident by the fact 
that dwarfs of the same stock, where the stem is shaded 
by the foliage, flourish much better. The Eglantine, in 
favored situations, is very long-lived. A French writer 
speaks of one in which he had counted one hundred 
and twenty concentric layers, thus making its age tbe 
same number of years. Another writer speaks of an 
Eglantine in Lower Saxony, whose trunk separated into 
two very strong branches, twenty-four feet high, and ex- 
tending over a space of twenty feet. At the height of 
seven feet, one of the branches is nearly six inches, and 
the other four inches, in circumference. There is a tra- 
dition that it existed iu the time of Louis the Pious, 
King of Germany in the ninth century. This, however, 
must evidently be received with some allowance. Flow- 
ers, i^ink. Fruit, scarlet, obovate or elliptic. A shrub, 
growing from four feet to six feet in height, and flowering 
in June and July. 

CANIW-aS.— Bog Roses. 

Prickles equal, hooked. Leaflets ovate, glandless or 
glandular, with the serratures conniving. Sepals decidu- 
ous. Disk thickened, closing the throat. Larger suck- 
ers arched. 

R. caniBa^ Lin, — Dog Rose. — Synonyms. R. glauca, 
Lois, R. arvensis, Schrank. R. glaucescens, Me7\ R. 
nitens, Mer, R. teneriffensis, Bonn, R. senticosa, Achar. 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



21 



Prickles strong, hooked. Leaflets simply serratecl, point- 
ed, quite smooth. Sepals pinnate. Fruit ovate, smooth, 
or ratlier bristly, like the aggregate flower stalks. ]^a- 
tive throughout Europe, and the north of Africa ; plenti- 
ful in Britain, in hedges, woods, and thickets. Flowers 
rather large, pale red, seldom white. Fruit, ovate, briglit 
scarlet, of a peculiar and very grateful flavor, especially 
if made into a conserve with sugar. The pulp of the 
fruit, besides saccharine matter, contains citric acid, which 
gives it an acid taste. The pulp, before it is used, should 
be carefully cleared from the nuts or seeds. A shrub, 
growing to the height of six feet or ten feet, and flower- 
ing in June and July. 

R. Indica^ X. — The India or China Rose. — Stem up- 
right, whitish, or green, or purple. Prickles stout, falcate, 
distant. Leaflets 3 to 5, ovate-acuminate, coriaceous, 
shining, glabrous, serrulate, the surfaces of difierent col- 
ors. Stipules very narrow, connate with the petiole, al- 
most entire, or serrate. Flowers solitary, or in panicles. 
Stamens bent inward. Peduncle sub-articulate, mostly 
thickened upward, and with the calyx smooth, or wrinkled 
and bristly. Native of China, near Canton. Flowers 
red, usually semi-double. Petioles setigerous and prickly. 
Petals obcordate. A shrub, growing to the height of 
from 4 feet to 20 feet, and flowering throughout the year. 

Varieties, — There are numerous varieties of this beauti- 
ful rose in cultivation, some of which were regarded as 
distinct species by the earlier authors. The following are 
quite distinct, and may each be considered the type of a 
long list of subvarieties. 

Var. Noisettiana. — The Noisette Rose. — Stem firm, 
and, as well as the branches, prickly. Stipules nearly en- 
tire. Flowers panicled, very numerous, semi-double, pale 
red. Styles exserted. 

This well-known and very beautiful rose is almost in- 
valuable in a shrubbery, from its free and vigorous growth, 
and the profusion of its flowers, which are continually 
being produced during the whole summer. 

VaFi OdoratiSSimai — The Tea-scented China Rose. 



22 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



— R. odoratissima, Swt ; R. Indica fragrans, Hed, — Has 
semi-double flowers, of a most delicious fragrance, strongly- 
resembling the scent of the finest green tea. There are 
numerous subvarieties. 

H. Laurenciaiia is placed as a species by some authors, 
but it is probably only a variety of i2. Indica. 

SYSTYLiE. 

(From swn, together, and stulos^ a style ; in reference to the styles be- 
ing connected.) 

Sect Char. — Styles cohering together into an elongated 
column. Stipules adnate. The habit of this section is 
nearly the same as that of the last. The leaves are fre- 
quently persistent. 

sempervirens, Hn, — Evergreen Rose. — Syn. 
R. scandens, Mill. ; R. Balearica, Desf. ; R. atrovirens, 
Viv.; R. sempervirens globosa, Med. — Evergreen. Shoots 
climbing. Prickles pretty equal, falcate. Leaves of 5 to 
7 leaflets, that are green on both sides, coriaceous. Flow- 
ers almost solitary, or in corymbs. Sepals nearly entire, 
longish. Styles cohering into an elongate pilose column. 
Fruit ovate or ovate-globose, orange-colored. Peduncles 
mostly hispid with glanded hairs. Closely allied to H. 
arvensis^ but diflfering in its being evergreen, in its leaves 
being coriaceous, and in its stipules being subfalcate, and 
more acute at the tip. I^ative of France, Portugal, Italy, 
Greece, and the Balearic Islands. A climbing shrub, 
flowering from June to August. 

Used for the same purposes as the Ayrshire Rose, from 
which it difiers in retaining its leaves the greater part of 
the winter, and in its less vigorous shoots. This species is 
well adapted for rose carpets made by pegging down its 
long, flexile shoots. Its glossy, rich foliage forms, in this 
way, a beautiful carpet of verdure enameled with flowers. 

* R. multiflora^ Thunh. — Many-floweree Rose. — Syn. 
R. flava, Donn. ; R. florida, Poir. ; R. diflusa, JRoxb. — 
Branches, peduncles, and calyxes tomentose. Shoots very 
long. Prickles slender, scattered. Leaflets 5 to 7^ ovate- 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



23 



lanceolate, soft, finely wrinkled. Stipules pectinate. Flow- 
ers in corymbs, and, in many instances, very numerous. 
Buds ovate globose. Sepals short. Styles protruded, in- 
completely grown together into a long, hairy column. A 
climbing shrub, a native of Japan and China ; and pro- 
ducing a profusion of clustered heads of single, semi- 
double, or double, white, pale red, or red flowers in June 
and July. 

This is one of the most ornamental of climbing 
roses ; but, to succeed, even in the climate of London, it 
requires a wall. The flowers continue to expand one after 
another during nearly two months. 

Var, Greyillei. — R. Roxburghii, HorL; R. platyphylla, 
Bed, — The Seven Sisters Rose. — A beautiful variety, 
with much larger and more double flowers than the 
species, of a purplish color. It is easily known from B. 
multiflora by the fringed edge of the stipules; while 
those of the common B, multiflora have much less fringe, 
and the leaves are smaller, with the leaflets much less 
rugose. The form of the blossoms and corymbs is pretty 
nearly the same in both. 

A plant of this variety on the gable end of R. Don- 
ald's house, in the Goldworth Nursery, in England, 
in 1826, covered above 100 square feet, and had more 
than 100 corymbs of bloom. Some of the corymbs had 
more than 50 buds in a cluster, and the whole aver- 
aged about 30 in each corymb, so that the amount of 
flower buds was about 3,000. The variety of color pro- 
duced by the buds at first opening was not less astonish- 
ing than their number. White, light blush, deeper blush, 
light red, darker red, scarlet, and purple flowers, all ap- 
peared in the same corymb ; and the production of these 
seven colors at once is said to be the reason why this 
plant is called the Seven Sisters Rose. This tree produc- 
ed a shoot the same year which grew 18 feet in length in 
two or three weeks. This variety, when in a deep, free 
soil, and an airy situation, is of very vigorous growth, and 
a free flowerer ; but the shoots are of a bramble-like tex- 



24 PARSONH ON THE ROSE. 

ture, and the plant, in consequence, is of but temporary 
duration. R. Donald's i2. Grevillei died in three or four 
years. 

Tar. Russelliana is a variety differing considerably, in 
jflowers and foliage, from the species, but retaining the 
fringed footstalk ; and is, hence, quite distinct from It. 
sempervirens JRusselliana. 

Var, Boursauiti, Bofrsault Rose, is placed, in Don's 
Miller^ under this species ; though it differs more from the 
preceding variety than many species do from each other. 
It is comparatively a hard-wooded, durable rose, and valu- 
able for flowering early and freely. This is a very re- 
markable rose, from its petals having a reticulated appear- 
ance. 

R, moschata^ Mill, — Musk Rose.— /Sy/z. R. glandulifera, 
Hoxh, — Shoots ascending. Prickles upon the stem slen- 
der, recurved. Leaflets 5 to 7, lanceolate, acuminate, 
nearly glabrous, the two surfaces of different colors. Stip- 
ules very narrow, acute. Flowers, in many instances, 
very numerous, white, w^ith the claws of the petals yel- 
low, very fragrant. Lateral peduncles jointed, and, as 
well as the calyx, pilose, and almost hispid. Sepals almost 
pinnately cut, long. Fruit red, ? ovate. 

The branches of the Musk Rose are generally too weak 
to support, without props, its large bunches of flowers, 
which are produced in an umbel-like manner at their ex- 
tremities. The musky odor is very perceptible, even at 
some distance from the plant, particularly in the evening, — 

When each inconstant breeze that blows 
Steals essence from the musky rose.'^ 

It is said to be a native of Barbary ; but this has been 
doubted. It is, however, found wild in Tunis, and is cul- 
tivated there for the sake of an essential oil, which is ob- 
tained from the petals by distillation. It has also been 
found wild in Spain. The first record of the musk rose 
having been cultivated in England is in Hakluyt^ in 1582, 
who states that the musk rose was brought to England 
from Italy. It was in common cultivation in the time of 



BOTANICAL CLASSIFICATION. 



25 



Gerard, and was formerly much valued for its musky- 
fragrance, when that scent Avas the fashionable perfume. 
The Persian attar of roses is said to be obtained from this 
species. The musk rose does best trained against a wall, 
on account of the length and weakness of its branches; 
and Miller adds that it should always be pruned in spring, 
as in winter it will not bear the knife. It requires very 
little pruning, as the flowers are produced at the extremi- 
ties of the shoots, which are often 10 feet or 12 feet in 
length. It flowers freely, and is well worthy of cultiva- 
tion. This rose is thought by some to be the same as that 
of Gyrene, which Athenoeus has mentioned as aflbrding a 
delicious j^erfume, but of this there is no certain evidence. 
It seems to have been rare in Europe in the time of Gess- 
ner, the botanist, who, in a letter to Dr. Occon, dated 
Zurich, 1565, says that it was growing in a garden at 
Augsburg, and he was extremely anxious that the doctor 
should procure some of its shoots for him. Rivers men- 
tions that Olivier, a French traveler, speaks of a rose tree 
at Ispahan, called the " Chinese Rose Tree," fifteen feet 
high, formed by the union of several stems, each four or 
five inches in diameter. Seeds of this tree were sent to 
Paris and produced the common Musk Rose. 

BANKSIAN^.— Banksia Roses. 

(So caUed because all the species contained in this section agree in 
character with It. JSanksice^ a rose named in honor of Lady Banks.) 

Stipules nearly free, subulate, or very narrow, usually 
deciduous. Leaflets usually ternate, shining. Stems 
climbing* The species of this section are remarkable for 
their long^ graceful, and often climbing, shoots, drooping 
flowers, and trifoliate, shining leaves. They are particu- 
larly distinguished by their deciduous, subulate, or very 
narrow stipules. Their fruit is very variable. 

R. Banksiae^ H, Br, — Lady Banks' or Banksia Rose. 
— Without prickles, glabrous, smooth. Leaflets 3 to 5, 
2 



26 



PARSONS ON THE EOSE, 



lanceolate, sparingly serrated, approximate. Stipules 
bristle-like, scarcely attached to the petiole, rather glossy, 
deciduous. Flowei's in umbel-like corymbs, numerous, 
very double, sweet-scented, nodding. Tube of the calyx 
a little dilated at the tip. jFruit globose, black. A native 
of China. A climbing shrub, flowering in June and July. 

Description^ etc. — This is an exceedingly beautiful and 
very remarkable kind of rose; the flowers being small, 
round, and very double, on long peduncles, and resembling 
in form the flowers of the double French cherry, or that of 
a small ranunculus, more than those of the generality of 
roses. The flowers of BanJcsioe alba are remarkably 
fragrant, the scent strongly resembling that of violets. 

Thunberg speaks of the Hosa rugosa as growing in 
China and Japan, being extensively cultivated in the gar- 
dens of those countries, and producing flowers of a pale 
red or pure white. The original plant is of a deep pur- 
ple color. Siebold, in his treatise on the flowers of Japan, 
says that this rose had been already cultivated in China 
about eleven hundred years, and that the ladies of the 
Court, under the dynasty of Long, prepared a very choice 
pot-pourri by mixing its petals with musk and camphor. 

More than one hundred distinct species are mentioned 
by botanists, in addition to those we have enumerated, 
but none of very marked characters or much known. 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION". 



27 



CHAPTER II. 
GARDEN CLASSIFICATIOK 

The varieties of a plant are, by Botanists, designated 
by names intended to convey an idea of certain charac- 
teristics, — the form and consistency of the leaves, the ar- 
rangement, number, size, and color of the flowers, seed- 
vessels, etc. The varieties of roses, however, have so few 
distinct characteristics, that florists find it difficult to 
give any name expressive of the very slight shades of dif- 
ference in the color or form of the flower. Fanciful names 
have therefore been chosen, indiscriminately, according to 
the taste of the grower ; and we thus find classed, in 
brotherly nearness, ISTapoleon and Wellington, Queen 
Victoria and Louis Philippe, Othello and Wilberforce, 
with many others. Any half-dozen English or French 
rose growers may give the name of their favorite Welling- 
ton or IsTapoleon to a rose raised by each of them, and en- 
tirely different in form and color from the other five 
bearing the same name. Thus has arisen the great confu- 
sion in rose nomenclature. 

A still greater difficulty and confusion, however, exists 
in the classification adopted by the various English and 
French rose growers. By these, classes are multiplied 
and roses placed in them without sufficient attention to 
their distinctive characters ; these are subsequently 
changed to other classes, to the utter confusion of those 
who are really desirous of obtaining some knowledge of 
the respective varieties. Even Rivers, the most correct 
of them all, has in several catalogues the same rose in as 
many different classes, and his book may perhaps place 
it in another. He thus comments upon thi-s constant 
change ; 



28 



PAESOXS OX THE EOSE. 



Within the last ten years, how many plants have been 
named and unnamed, classed and re-classed ! — Professor 
A. placing it here, and Dr. B. placing it there ! I can 
almost imagine Dame Xature laughing in her sleeve, when 
our philosophers are thus puzzled. Well, so it is, in a 
measure, with roses ; a variety has often equal claims to 
two classes. First impressions have jDerhaps placed it in 
one, and there rival amateurs should let it remain." 

If there exists, then, this doubt of the proper class to 
which many roses belong, we think it would be better to 
drop entirely this sub-classification, and adopt some more 
general heads, under one of which every rose can be 
classed. It may often be difficult to ascertain whether a 
rose is a Damask, a Provence, or a Hybrid China ; but 
there can be no difficulty in ascertaining whether it is 
dwarf or climbing, whether it blooms once or more in the 
year, and whether the leaves are rough as in the Remont- 
ants, or smooth as in the Bengals. We have therefore 
endeavored to simplify the old classification, and have 
placed all roses under three principal heads, viz : 

I. Those that make distinct and separate periods of 
bloom throughout the season, as the Remontant Roses. 

II. Those that bloom continually, without any tempo- 
rary cessation, as the Bourbon, China, etc. 

III. Those that bloom only once in the season, as the 
French and others. 

RemontantS. — The first of these divisions includes only 
the present Damask and Hybrid Perpetuals, and for these 
we know no term so expressive as the French Remontant. 
" FerpetuaV does not express their true character. 

Eyerbloomin^ Roses is the name we give to those in- 
cluded under the second general head. This is divided 
into five classes : 

1. The Bourbon, the varieties of which are easily known 
by their luxuriant growth, and thick, large, leathery 
leaves. These are, moreover, reasonablv hardv. 



GARDEN CLASSIFIOATIOX. 



29 



2. The China, — This includes the present China, Tea, 
and Noisette Roses, which are now much confused, as 
there are many among the Teas which are not tea-scented, 
and among the Noisette^ are those which do not bloom in 
clusters; they are, moreover, so much alike in their 
growth and liabit, that it is better each should stand upon 
its own merits, and not on the characteristics of an im- 
aginary class. 

3. Musk. — Roses of this class are known by their rather 
rougher foliage. 

4. Macartney. — The varieties of this are distinguished 
by their very rich, glossy, almost evergreen foliage. 

5. Microphylla* — A class easily distinguished by their 
peculiar foliage and straggling habit. 

Tlie third general head we divide again into five classes : 

1. Garden Roses. — This includes all the present French, 
Provence, Hybrid Provence, Hybrid China, Hybrid 
Bourbon, White, and Damask Roses, many of which, un- 
der the old arrangement, differ more from others in their 
own class than from many in another class, 

2. Moss Roses, all of which are easily distinguished. 

3. Brier Roses, which will include the Sweet-Brier, 
Hybrid Sweet-Brier, and Austrian Brier. 

4. Scotch Roses. 

5. Climbing Roses ; which are again divided into all the 
distinctive subdivisions. 

In describing colors, we have given those which pre- 
vail. It is well known that many roses are very variable 
in this respect, and that the same flower will frequently 
be white or yellow, crimson or blush, at different periods 
of its bloom. We have seen a plant j^i'oduce several 
flowers totally unlike each other ; one being dark crimson, 
and the other pale blush. We therefore describe the pre- 
vailing^ color, and the cultivator should not be disap- 
pointed if his rose, the first season, should not correspond 



30 



PAESOXS OX THE PwOSE. 



with the description ; neither should he be disappointed 
if a rose which we describe as very double should with 
him prove very single. Transplanting will often tempo- 
rarily change the character of roses, and they often refuse 
to develop themselves j^erfectly under our hot sun,^ or in a 
poor soil. A second season is thus often required to test 
them fairly. We have seen the fine rose. La Reine, 
semi-double, and worthless at midsummer, while at other 
seasons, and perhaps in a difierent location, it is fully 
equal to its reputation. It is frequently the case, that 
roses imported from Europe, under glowing descriptions, 
prove worthless the first season, but fully sustain their 
character the second. We mention these things here, in 
order that the amateur may be prepared for any tem^DO- 
rary disappointment that may occur. In descnbing over 
two hundred choice varieties, we have endeavored to se- 
lect those whose character is well established for superior 
and distinct qualities, and above all, for vigorous growth. 
Any variety whose growth is uniformly weak has been 
at once rejected, notwithstanding its great beauty of 
flower. Thus many fine roses, like Gloire de Santenay, are 
thrown aside. There are many equally good that have 
been necessarily omitted, and there are also new varieties 
we have recently received from Europe, which may prove 
superior to many we have named. 

From this list, the rose amateur may feel safe in select- 
ing, without incurring the risk of obtaining inferior va- 
rieties. 

ROSES THAT BLOOM DURIISTG THE WHOLE SEASON. 

REMOXTANT ROSES. 

The term Remontant — signifying, literally, to grow 
again — we have chosen to designate this class of roses, 
there being no word in our own language equally ex- 
pressive. They were formerly called Damask and Hybrid 




Fig. 1.— REMONTAIsT ROSE. 



32 



PARSONS OX THE EOSE. 



Perpetnals, but are distinguished from the true Perpetual 
or Everblooming Roses by their peculiarity of distinct 
and separate periods of bloom. They bloom with the 
other roses in early summer, then cease for a while, then 
make a fresh season of bloom, and thus through the sum- 
mer and autumn, differing entirely from the Bourbon and 
Bengal Roses, which grow and bloom continually through 
the summer. In order, therefore, to avoid confusion, we 
have deemed it best to adopt the French term, Remontant, 

These roses have generally been obtained by hybridiza- 
tion between the Hybrid China and Damask, and the 
Bourbon and China Roses, uniting the luxuriant growth 
and hardy character of the former two with the ever- 
blooming qualities of the latter. They are generally 
large, double, very fragrant, and bloom, some of them, 
freely throughout the season. They are also perfectly 
hardy, and grow well in any climate without protection. 
These qualities render them very desirable, and they are 
fast driving out of cultivation the Garden Roses, which 
bloom but once, and during the rest of the season cumber 
the ground. There are, it is true, among the latter, some 
varieties, like Madame Plantier, Chenedole, Persian Yellow, « 
and others, that are not equaled by any varieties existing 
among the Remontants. Such, however, is the skill now 
exerted by rose growers, that this will not long be the 
case, and we may hope soon to have among the Remont- 
ants, roses of every shade of color, with the snow-like 
whiteness of Madame Plantier, the golden richness of 
Persian Yellow, or the peculiar brilliancy of Chenedole. 

Adam Paul. — A fine grower. Its flower is double, and 
its color rose, tinged with violet. 

August e Mie. — A seedling of the well-known La Reine, 
a vigorous grower. Its color is a light pink, not so dark 
as La Reine, which it resembles in form. 

Ardoise de Lyon, — One of the best of the dark roses ; 
its color is a violet purple. 



GAEDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



33 



Achille Goudot. — A striking rose ; the upper side of 
its petals being crimson, and the under side a bright rose 
color. 

Adele Mauz^, — Of medium size, double, Avith a light 
rose color. 

Anna Alexieff, — Large and full, with a pink color. Its 
habit is good, and it is a good variety for forcing. It is 
one of the most profuse bloomers. 

Baronne Prevost, — One of the very best of its class, 
blooming freely in autumn, and producing fragrant flow- 
ers of a bright rose color. It is also of luxuriant growth 
and large, rich foliage. 

Baronne de Maynard. — A vigorous grower, with a 
well-formed, medium-sized, pure white flower. 

Belle Normande. — A good grower, and its color a deli- 
cate blush. 

Caroline de SansaL — A vigorous plant, with a large 
and full flower, the color of which is clear flesh, with 
blush edsres. It is one of the best of its color. 

Charles Lefebvre, — A strong grower, and one of the 
finest of its class. Its color is a bright, changeable crim- 
son, inclining to a purple shade in the centre. Its form is 
cupped and regular. 

Clementine Duval. — Has a dwarf habit, and a bright 
rose color. 

Duchesse de Caylus. — A superb rose, scarcely surpassed 
by any. Its form is double, and cupped ; its color is a 
rich scarlet crimson. 

Duchess of Sutherland. — A plant of luxuriant growth 
and foliage. Its form is beautifully cupped, and its color 
a delicate rose. It is, however, not reliable for an au- 
tumnal bloom. 

Due de Cazes. — A good grower, and its color is a deep 
purplish crimson, 
2* 



34 



PARSONS ON THE KOSE. 



Enfant de Mt, CarmeL — A good grower and bloomer. 
Its color is a dark rose, or crimson. 

Elizabeth Vigneron. — A good grower, with rose-color- 
ed flowers. 

General Jacqueminot, — A strong grower, and when in 
bud, one of the most beautiful of roses. Its open flower, 
not being perfectly double, is surpassed by others. Its 
color is a scarlet crimson, with a soft velvety sheen, and 
a few thousand of them in full bloom is a sio^ht to be re- 
membered. A basket of buds freshly cut in the morning 
is sure to be appreciated. 

General Washington, — One of the finest of its class. 

It is a good grower, very full bloomer, and a general fa- 
vorite. Its color is a bright red. 

Giant of Battles, — The most brilliant scarlet Remont- 
ant. We describe it here because it is well known for its 
dazzling color, and in this respect unequaled. It cannot, 
however, be recommended to any but the most careful 
grower. In ordinary hands, its growth is weak, and it 
mildews badly. Under glass, where the mildew can be 
controlled, it makes a strong and luxuriant growth. 

Henry IV , — A well-known rose, of vigorous growth, 
with a lilac and purplish pink color. 

Jacques Lafitte, — A large, vigorous growing, double 
rose, of a carmine or bright pink color. 

Joasine Hanet, — Of medium size, and blooms in clus- 
ters. Its color is reddish purple 
j John Hopper. — Large, and finely shaped. Its color is 
I rosy crirnson. 

Jules MargottiUo — One of the finest Remontant Roses. 
Its growth is vigorous, its bloom is abundant, and its 
color is a clear pink crimson. It is particularly fine when 
in bud. 

Kate Haushurg, — One of the most thoroughly remont- 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



35 



ant, blooming through the summer and autumn. It is 
very large, and its color is a peculiar light cherry. 'No 
collection should be without it. 

La ReinCs — An old and well-known rose, of the largest 
size. It is finely cupped, almost globular, very double, 
and very fragrant. Its color is a bright rose, slightly 
tinged with lilac. Its foliage and habit are good, and it 
may fairly rank as one of the best roses. It oAves its 
origin to Lafiky, and was sent out in 1843. 

Lion des Combats, — A large and full rose, of a reddish 
violet color, often shaded with scarlet. 

Le Geant* — A large crimson-colored rose. 

Lord Clyde. — One of the finest of ike dark roses, with 
a deep purplish crimson color. 

Louis Van HouttC. — Has a large and double globular 
flower. Its color is bright shaded rosy carmine. 

Matliurin Regnier, — One of the best, with large and 
full form, and a delicate pale rose color. 

Madame Alfred de Rougemont. — A good grower, and 

autumnal bloomer, and in color nearly Avhite. 

Madame BolL — Very vigorous and hardy, with a full 
double form, and rose color. 

Madame Gustave Bonnett. — One of the best white 
roses, and blooms freely through the summer. 

Madame Louise Carique. — One of the most valuable 
Remontants. Its color is a fine rosy carmine, its form is 
full, and it grows well and blooms abundantly through 
the summer. For general purposes, it has scarcely a 
superior. 

Madame Morand. — Rosy lilac in color, and well cupped 
in form. 

Madame Trotter, — A very strong grower, a most 
abundant bloomer, with flowers of a deep cherry red. It 



36 



PAllSOXS OX THE KOSE. 



is shy of blooming in autumn, but the beautiful deep red 
of its nevr shoots makes it desirable for every collection. 

Maurice Bernardin. — A good grower, with full, fine 
form, and bright cherry crimson color. It is one of the 
best. 

Pcenee. — Has a unique flower. Its color is rose, veined 
with scarlet. 

Palais de Crista!. — Has a bright flesh color, with a 
salmon tint. 

Pius IX. — A vigorous grower, and abundant bloomer. 
Its color is crimson, passing into violet. 

Prince Camille de Rolian. — Large and full. Its color 

is a velvety dee-p crimson maroon, clouded with red. One 
of the finest. 

Reine des Violettes. — A full and distmct flower. Its 
color is violet purple, with red centre. It is one of the 
best dark roses. 

Reynolds Hole. — One of the finest new Remontants, 
and is scarcely surpassed by any. It is a good grower, 
and its color is cherry rose, shaded to white at the base 
of the petals. 

Sourenir de Lady Eardley.— An abundant blooming 
rose, of a brilliant crimson color. 

Souvenir de la Reine dMngleterre.— Oneof the larg- 
est roses, but requires good culture to open fully. Its 
color is a clear brio-ht rose. 

Sydonie. — Has a fine form, with a clear, light pink 
color, and is one of the best old roses. 

Triomplie d'Amiens. — A fragrant rose, and its color a 
fine velvety lake, strij^ed with reddish brown. 

Victor Trouillard. — Large and full. Its color a bril- 
liant crimson and purple, shaded. 

Yolande d- Arragon. — A vigorous grower, with distinct 

foliage. Its flower is large, and rose-colored. 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



37 



REMONTANT SCOTCH. 

Stanwell. — Of Scotch parentage, and has the peculiar 
foliage and habit of the Scotch roses. Its flowers are 
large, bhish-colorecl, and rather flat. It is an abundant 
and constant bloomer throughout the season, and its pe- 
culiar, delightful fragrance renders it very desirable. 

REMONTANT MOSS. 

These few roses have been separated from the summer- 
blooming moss roses, because they show a disposition to 
bloom in the autumn. 

Eugene de SaVOie. — Of vigorous growth, with a large 
and full flower. It is an abundant bloomer, and very fra- 
grant. Its color is a bright red. 

Madame Edouard Ory, — A good autumn bloomer. 
It is globular, finely formed, and of a rich rose color. 

Perpetual White # — A vigorous grower, double, and 
blooms in clusters. One of the most desirable. 

Raphael* — Of medium size, double, and has a delicate 
rosy flesh color. 

Salet* — A good autumnal bloomer, and a good grower. 
Its color is bright pink, changing to rose. 

BOURBON ROSES. 

This class does not possess the hardiness of the Re* 
montants, nor the free blooming properties of the Ben- 
gals, Teas, and Noisettes, and therefore can never compete 
with the fonner for the North, nor with the latter for the 
South. In it, however, are varieties like Hermosa, Sou- 
venir de Malmaison, and others, which are scarcely sur- 
passed in any class. The Bourbon Rose has also qualities 
which make many varieties favorites. These qualities are 
its greater hardiness than the Tea Rose, its very thick, 



38 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



leathery foliage, its luxuriant growth, its more constant 
bloom than the Remontants, and its thick, velvety petals, 
of a consistency to endure the summer's sun. 

It was introduced into France by Jacques, head garden- 




Fjo". 2. — BOURBON ROSE. 



er of the Duke of Orleans, at Neuilly, who received it in 
1819 from Breon, director of the Royal gardens in the Isle 
of Bourbon. The following^ account of its oricrin is g-iyen 
by Breon, and is also mentioned by Rivers : 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATIOX. 



39 



"At the Isle of Bourbon, the inhabitants generally in- 
close their land with hedges made of two rows of roses; 
one row of the common China Rose, the other of the Red 
Four Seasons. M. Perichon, a planter in the island, found 
in one of these hedges a young plant, differing very much 
from the others in its shoots and foliasre. This he trans- 
planted into his garden. It flow^ered the following year, 
and proved to be of a new race, and very different from 
the above two roses, which at that time were the only 
varieties known in the island." 

Its resemblance to the Bengal Rose w^as, however, so 
strong, that it was soon considered a variety of that spe- 
cies. Its characteristics are, however, so entirely different 
from the Bengal, that we give it a separate place in our 
garden classification. To the French we owe nearly all 
the varieties of this class which have been produced from 
the original semi-double rose, or Bourbon Jacques, as it 
was called. Of these varieties, the following are distinct, 
and possess many charming qualities that cannot fail to 
gratify the amateur. 

AcidaliC* — One of the best light roses, being sometimes 
light blush, and at others white. Its autumnal bloom is 
its best. 

Appolinc* — A vigorous grower; its color is rose and 
pink. 

Comte Bobrinsky, — A moderate groAver, with a large 
and full crimson scarlet flow^er. 

DuchCSSe de Thuringe. — Of moderate growth; its 
color is white, inclining to lilac. 

Enfant d'Ajaccio. — A robust growing rose. As a 
pillar rose, or even a climber, it is perhaps the best of this 
group. Its flow^er is double, cupped, fragrant, and of a 
bright scarlet crimson. 

Gloirc de Rosam^ne. — A rose of very luxuriant growth, 
and lar2:e foliao:e. It will make loni^-er shoots in the same 



40 



PAESONS OX THE EOSE. 



period than any other rose in this group, and will form a 
good pillar rose or climber. It is an abundant bloomer, 
and its flowers are cupped, large, semi-double, and of a 
brilliant deep scarlet. 

• Hermosa* — An old variety, but still one of the very 
best of this group. Its form is cupped, very double and 
perfect, and no rose blooms more abundantly, either forced 
or in the open ground. Its color is delicate rose. The 
plant is of medium growth, and well adapted for group- 
ing or for planting in beds with Mrs. Bosanquet and 
Agrippina. 

Imperatrice Josephine, — A very beautiful variety, 
blooming in immense clusters of a delicate pink. Its form 
is cupped, and the very robust habit of the plant makes 
it a good j^illar rose. 

Joseph Gourdon. — A moderate grower and of a red- 
dish flesh color. One of the best. 

Madame Lacharme, — A new variety, of the same habit 
as the preceding. Its flowers are of a rich blush, inclin- 
ing to white. It blooms in clusters of beautifully formed 
and double flowers. 

Pierre de St, Cyr, — One of the best of its color, which 
is rosy pink. 

Queen of the Bourbons, — A very beautiful and delicate 
rose-colored variety, slightly tinged with bufi". It is 
cupped, very fragrant, large, and double, and its petals 
are arranged w^ith a beautiful regularity. 

Sir Joseph Paxton, — A strong grower, and one of the 

hardiest. Its color is bright rose, tinged with crimson. 

Souvenir de la Malmaison, — Altogether the most per- 
fect and superb rose of this or any other class. It was 
originated by Beluze, a Frenchman. Its flowers are 
cupped, and of very perfect form, very double, with thick, 
velvety petals ; they are of the largest size, often four to 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



41 



five inches in diameter, and their color delicate blush, with 
a rich tint of cream. Its large and very luxm'iant foliage, 
compact habit, and flowers of exceeding beauty, render 
this one of the very finest roses known. 

CHINxV EOSES. 

Agrippina* — Though an old rose, this is still one of the 
best and most popular of its class. As a forcing rose, 
and for an abundance of bloom, it is largely cultivated by 
bouquet venders. It is cupped, beautifully formed, and 
of a rich, brilliant crimson, with a delicate white stripe 
in the centre of each petal. It is one of the most hardy 
and desirable of the old China Roses. 

Archduke Charles. — A fine cupped and hardy rose (in 
this class we always use hardy comparatively). Its color 
is rose, changing to crimson during expansion, and having 
frequently a beautiful carnation-like aj^pearance. 

CelS multiflora. — ^An abundant bloomer; its color 
is white, shaded with pink. 

Daily Blush* — One of the oldest China Roses, but one 
of the very best. There can be nothing more perfect 
than its half-expanded bud, of a light crimson, inclining 
to blush. It commences blooming among the earliest, 
and, if the old seed-vessels are picked off, will continue to 
bloom abundantly through the summer and autumn, even 
after severe frosts. It is one of the hardiest of the class, 
and if left in this latitude unprotected during the winter, 
will lose no more wood than it will be necessary to cut 
out in the spring. It grows freely, and making a stifl*, 
upright bush, would be well adapted for a hedge — the 
winter performing the office of the shears. We recollect 
seeing at Genoa, in Italy, a beautiful hedge of this rose, 
which, even at that time, in midwinter, had not lost all 
its foliag-e. We can ima2:ine few thino-s more beautiful 
than a well-cultivated hedge of this rose, with its smooth, 



42 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



glossy foliage, well sprinkled with the beautiful ruby- 
tinted buds. 

Daily White. — Very similar to the preceding, in every- 
thing but the color of its flowers, which are pure white. 
Like the other, its fully expanded flowers are inferior to 
many other varieties, but its half-blown bads are very 
perfect, and make it a desirable plant for the bouquet- 
maker. 

Eugene Beauharnais,— Large and double ; its color is 
bright, a deep scarlet crimson. 

General Lamorlciere. — Bright scarlet crimson, and a 
free bloomer. 

Le Phoenix. — Distinct, fragrant, and of a deep rose 
color. 

Louis Philippe. — A strong grower, large, double and 
globular. Its color is dark crimson, with blush centre. 

Madame Br^on. — One of the very best. Its flowers 
are very large and double, beautifully cupped, and of a 
brilliant rose color. Few of the old China Roses can 
surpass it. 

Mrs. Bosanquet. — One of the most desirable of the 
old China Roses, and there are few in any other class that 
are superior to it. Its growth is luxuriant, and its superb 
cupped, w^ax-like flowers are of a delicate flesh-color, and 
are produced in the greatest abundance. 

Queen of Lombardy. — Of good size, and its color is 
red, passing into purple. 

Sanguinea. — Rich crimson flowers, glowing like rubies. 
It is a free bloomer, of dwarf habit, and makes the best 
bedding rose known. 

XOISETTE ROSES. 

Aim^e Vibert. — One of the most beautiful of the Noi- 
sette or cluster-flowering roses. It blooms freely through 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATIOX. 



43 



the season, is tolerably hardy, and produces an abundance 
of small, snow-white flowers, in fine clusters. 

America. — Tliis has large and full flowers. Its color is 
creamy yellow. 

Chromatclla* — A truly magnificent and sj^lendid rose, 
raised at Angers (France), from Lamarque. It is of ro- 
bust habit, and its luxuriant shoots would make it a fine 
pillar rose. Its leaves are large and glossy, with a beau- 
tiful, rich purple edge when young. The bud is of a rich 
cream color, but when the large, globular flower is fully 
expanded, its color is a brilliant and beautiful yellow, 
with petals whose thickness will endure the hottest sun 
without fading. When the plant is young, it is rather a 
shy bloomer, but when of some age, and in a good soil 
and location, nothing can exceed the magnificence of its 
superb flowers. In our grounds, it has endured our cold- 
est winters, but it w^ould be safer to protect it. 

Caroline de Marniesse. — One of the hardiest. Its 

color is white, with a tinge of pink in the centre. 

Celine Forestier, — A vigorous growing rose. One of 
the hardiest, and with a large, full flower. Its color is 
rich yellow. 

Cornelia Koch, — This has a full and fine form. Its 
color is pale yellow. 

Isabella Gray. — A large and full seedling of Chroma- 
tella, of a rich yellow. 

Jeanne dMrc. — A ])\ive white rose, with a very fine 
form, and vigorous habit. 

Lamarque. — A well-known and superb variety, whose 
very vigorous growth adapts it well for a pillar, or even 
for a climber, as in rich soils and favorable locations it 
Avill make shoots of fifteen feet in a season. When bud- 
ded on a strong stock, few roses can surpass its large 
cupped and nearly white flowers, weighing down the 



44 



PARSOXS ON THE ROSE. 



stems with their weig^ht. It is a frao'rant and most de- 
sirable variety. 

Madame Jouyain. — Bright rose, with a buff centre. It 
is very fragrant, and has a vigorous growth, adapting it 
for pillars. 

Ophire* — A medium-sized rose, of a very singular color, 
entirely different from any other rose known, being a 
bright salmon, almost saffron. It blooms in clusters, and 
its luxuriant habit would make it a good pillar rose. 

Solfaterre* — Another superb rose, of very much the 
same character. Its flowers are large and globular, in- 
clining to flat, and their color bright lemon. When half 
opened, the buds are superb. Like Chromatella, (and 
Lamarque, the parent of both), its growth is very luxu- 
riant. Rivers mentions a plant which threw out a shoot 
from a single bud eighteen feet in one season, and the 
next season was covered with flower-buds. 

Triomphe de Rennes. — A fine rose, of large, full form, 
and canary color. 

TEA ROSES. 

AdaMe — One of the finest tea-scented roses. Its flowers 
are cupped, very double and large, and of perfect form. 
It is very fragrant, and its color is a rich, glossy rose. 

Abricote. — Large and double ; its color a pale fawn, 
with apricot centre. 

AugUSte Vacher, — Yellow, shaded Avith copper. Its 
form is large and full. 

Barbot* — A very large, cupped rose, tea-scented, and 
of a beautiful fawn color. 

Boilgere. — A very large, superb rose, one of the very 
best of the tea-scented varieties. Its form is cupped, and 
its color a rich, glossy, bronzed rose. 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



45 



Caroline t — A fine variety, with very double and perfect 
flowers, of a bright rose color. 

Comte de Paris. — This is a superb cupped and tea- 
scented rose, whose magnificent size and hardy, robust 
nature fully compensate for its deficiency of petals, when 
fully expanded. Its foliage is large, its growth is very 
luxuriant, and its flowers of a pale rose color. 

Clara Sylvain. — One of the best white roses. It grows 
very freely, and gives its globular, pure white, and fragrant 
flowers in the greatest abundance. 

Devoniensis. — A very beautiful rose, of immense size. 
Like Chromatella, it is sometimes a shy bloomer when 
young, but is well adapted for forcing. Its form is cupped, 
and its color a fine creamy white, tinted with rose. 

Duchesse d'Orleans. — Well cupped, and of a blush 
color. 

Delpllinc Gaudot. — Of medium size, double and white. 

Dremont. — This has a delicately tinged bufi* color. 

DaTid Pradel. — This variety is unique. Its color is 
rose, tinted with lavender, and its floAvers are often of 
very large size. 

Due de Magenta. — Has a large and fine form. Its color 
is rosy salmon, shading to pink. 

Eliza SaUTage. — One of the finest of the tea-scented 
roses. Its habit is good, its bloom is free and abundant, 
and its very large and double globular flowers are of a 
fine, pale yellow, with orange centre. 

Enfant de Lyon. — Large and full, with yellow color. 

Eugene Desgaches. — One of the finest Tea Roses. It 
is very large and full, and its bud is unsurpassed. Its 
color is a clear, bright rose. 

Eugenie Jovin. — One of the best roses. Its flowers 
are large, abundant, and of a flesh-colored white, slightly 
tinted with fawn. 



46 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



Gigantesque. — A very large and full rose, flesh-colored, 
and darker in the centre. 

Grandiflora* — One of the most luxuriant and robust 
roses, and a distinct, excellent variety. Its flowers are 
crimson, globular, and of the largest size. 

General TartaSi — This is of a dark rose color, and has 
a large and full form. 

Gloire de Dijon. — One of the finest and hardiest of the 
whole group. It is a strong grower, and makes a good 
climber. Its foliage is luxuriant, and its flowers are large 
and double. Their color is pale salmon, buff*, and yellow. 
This variety will always give satisfaction. 

Homer* — A peculiar and beautiful rose when in bud. 
Its color is rose, tipped with red, and with a salmon 
centre. 

Isabella Sprunt. — A ne^v, yellow rose, of great merit. 
Its remarkably free blooming qualities make it a valuable 
acquisition for forcing and for cut flowers. 

Jaune d'Or. — A golden yellow rose, of good form. 

Julie MansaiS* — A large and superb tea-scented rose, 
globular, and very fragrant. Its color is white, with lemon 
centre. 

LyonnaiS. — A large rose, and one of the hardiest of its 
class. It blooms freely, with a pale flesh color. Its half- 
opened buds are beautiful. 

Louis de Savoy. — Fine yellow, with large and full form. 
Madame de Vatry. — A very fine variety, with large 
and full form. Its color is deep rose. 

Madame Bravy. — Finely formed, and of a creamy 
white color. 

Madame Falcot. — Buff* yellow, something deeper than 
Safrano, and more double in form. One of the best. 

Madame Halphin. — Large and full, and its color is 
salmon pink, with a lemon centre. 




Tig. 3.— MARECHAL KIEL. 



48 



PARSONS ON THE EOSE. 



Madame de Tartas. — Large, and free blcomingj of a 
bright rose color. 

Madame Villermoz.— A very fine, large variety. Its 
color is creamy white, tinted with fawn, with a salmon 
centre. 

Mar^chal Mel. — A vigorous growing rose, more free 
blooming than Chromatella. Its color is yellow, deepen- 
ing at the centre to a rich, golden yellow. It is, perhaps, 
the largest and most beautiful yellow rose known, and 
very fragrant. 

Marquise de Foucault. — Has a large white flower, with 

yellow centre. Its habit is vigorous. 

NiphetOS* — Has long and pointed buds, of a pale scraw 
color. It blooms best in .lJ weather. 

Pactole. — One of the very best of its class. Its form 
is cupped, and its color pale sulphur, with a deep yellow 
centre. It blooms very abundantly, and is robust and 
hard. It is one of the best roses for forcing, and for 
bouquets. 

President. — A fine, large, and well-formed rose. Its 
color is rose, shaded with salmon. 

Polonie Bordini — Creamy salmon, with yellow centre, 
and full form. 

RubenSt — Color rose and white, with yellow centre. 
Form large and double. 

SafranOt — This is scarcely excelled by any rose. Its 
half-opened bud is very beautiful, and of a rich, deep fawn 
color. When open, its form is cupped, and its color a 
much lighter fawn. These fawn-colored roses have pecu- 
liar charms for us ; and of them all, there are none more 
beautiful or richer than Safrano. 

Silene* — A very beautiful tea-scented rose, cupped, very 
double, and fragrant. Its color is rose, shaded with crim- 
son, and the plant is hardy and of luxuriant growth. 



GAPvDEX CLASSIFICATION. 



49 



Sombreuil. — A strong grower, with flowers of a pale 
straw color. 

Souvenir d'un Ami. — The Ijueen of the tea-scented 
roses, and will rank the very first among them. Its habit 
is good, it blooms freely, and its large and beautifully im- 
bricated flowers, w^hen open, much resemble in form those 
of Souvenir de Malmaison. Its color is a delicate salmon, 
shaded with rose, and its general character highly recom- 
mends it as flrst-rate in every respect. Hibberd claims -to 
have produced flowers from this variety eleven to twelve 
inches in circumference when fully expanded. 

Souvenir de Leveson Gower, — Of a salmon color. 

Triomplie de Guillot fils. — A white rose, clouded with 
flesh color, and shaded with yellowish salmon. 

Vicomtesse de Cazes. — A fine yellow, and free bloom- , 
ing rose. 

White Tea. — A w^ell-cupped, fragrant, pure white rose. 

In the preceding list, we have given some of the best 
varieties of the Tea Rose, and trust the amateur will find 
no difliculty in making a selection. Many are pillar roses ; 
and these, so trained, would be beautiful objects on a lawn, 
either singly, or in groups of three to a dozen. Where 
the height of the pillars can be gently graduated to the 
highest in the centre, the efiect will be very fine. Many 
of the luxuriant growing varieties can be trained upon a 
common pale fence, and will cover it Avith flowers and 
foliage the whole season. Straw can be easily thatched 
over to protect them from the severity of winter, or bass 
mats Avould be still better. There is another very beauti- 
ful mode of cultivating the most delicate of these tea- 
scented roses, which we have never seen adopted, but 
which we are confident would produce a very fine elfect. 
A large three or four gallon pot should be procured, and 
painted green on the outside ; a locust post should then 
be obtained, some tbree or four inches in diameter, and 
3 



50 



PARSOXS ON" THE ROSE. 



five to twelve feet in heig-ht, accordino; to the usual leno^tli 
of the shoots of the variety of rose to be planted. Upon 
the top of this post can be jDlaced a circular or square 
piece of board, the diameter of the bottom of the pot. 
The post should then be planted firmly in the ground and 
painted green. Fill the pot with rich soil, as directed in 
a i^receding chapter ; plant in it one or two roses of pillar 
varieties, and place it on the top of the post. The surface 
of the soil should then be covered with moss, and if the 
sides can also be covered, the good efiect will be enhanced. 
The plants, if strong, will soon throw out long, graceful 
shoots, which, drooping to the ground, will hide the pot 
and post, and present the apjDearance of an everblooming 
weeping tree of great beauty. If a pyramid is desired, 
wires can be carried from the top of the post to the 
ground, some two or three feet from its base, and the 
shoots trained down these. AVe can imao-ine few thinofs 
more beautiful than Chromatella and Solfaterre, growing 
and blooming in this Avay. 

MACARTXEY ROSES. 

The Macartney rose was brought from China to Eng- 
land by Lord Macartney, in 1793. Its habit is luxuriant, 
and its foliage is more beautiful than that of any other 
rose, its leaves being thick, and of a rich, glossy green. 
It commences blooming about midsummer, and its flow- 
ers, with a fragrance like the perfume of an apricot, suc- 
ceed each other without interruption till the first frosts, 
while the leaves remain till the very latest. Although as 
hardy as the hardiest of the China Roses, it would be bet- 
ter in this latitude to give it the same protection as recom- 
mended for the China. It is one of the most desirable 
roses for beds or borders. When coverino: the whole 
ground, and kept well pegged down, its rich, glossy foli- 
age, gemmed with fragrant flowers, produces a beautiful 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



51 



effect. The varieties of this rose are very few, but the 
best two are the following: : 

Alba Odoratai — A vigorous growing rose, w^ith very 
rich and beautiful foliacce. Its frao-rant flowers are cream- 
colored, and, when in bud, are very beautiful. It has 
stood the last three winters uninjured in our grounds, 
without protection, and is a very beautiful and desirable 
variety. It is classed by Rivers as a Microphylla, but it 
so little resembles that rose, and is so decidedly Macart- 
ney in its character, that we place it with the latter. 

Maria Leonida. — A very beautiful, but not entirely 
double variety, as its stamens can sometimes be seen, 
which, however, give a graceful appearance. Its flowers 
are finely cupped, and pure white, with a tinge of blush 
at the base of the petals. 

raCROPHYLLA ROSES. 

This species, originally from the Himalayan Mountain??, 
was first brought to Europe in 1823. Its foliage is small 
and singular, and its growth is very robust. Its flowers 
bloom from midsummer till frost, and have a striking ap- 
pearance ; they are very double, with a calyx of which 
the small, bristling sepals give the opening bud the ap- 
pearance of a small chestnut. The plant is hardy, and 
has endured the winter in our grounds for the past twenty 
years without protection, losing only a portion of the tops 
of its shoots. Of the several varieties, one of the best is 

Rubra, which has very double *and cupped flowers, of 
a blush and often rose color, with a deep red centre. 

MUSK ROSES. 

The Musk Rose grows naturally in Persia and other 
Eastern countries, where it attains the height of a small 
tree, and is doubtless the rose which has been celebrated 



52 



PAESOXS OX THE ROSE. 



"by EasteiTi poets. It is also found in India, where it is 
probably the species used for making attar. In this lati- 
tude it is quite hardy, and we have a plant of the old 
White Musk in our grounds, that has braved the severity 
of more than twenty winters. It has made in one season 
shoots more than six feet long, and in our Southern 
States, more than double the growth would probably be 
obtained. The blossoms appear in clusters, and commenc- 
ing later than any other rose, continue abundant through- 
out the season. The Old White Cluster has been widely 
distributed throughout the country, and is deservedly a 
favorite. The best two varieties, however, are the fol- 
lowing : 

Eponine* — A cupped and very double variety, with the 
peculiar musk fragrance. It is pure white, and a very 
pretty rose. 

Princess of Nassau. — A luxuriant growing and very 
fragrant variety, and would make a good jDillar rose. It 
blooms in large clusters of cupped flowers, changing from 
yeUow to cream color as they open. 

PvOSES THAT BLOOM OXLY OXCE IN THE SEASON 

GAEDEX ROSES. 

For want of a better, we use this term to designate all 
those roses that bloom only once in the season, and that 
strongly resemble each other in habit and flower. It in- 
cludes those classes called, by rose-growers, French, Prov- 
ence, Hybrid Provence, Hybrid China, Hybrid Bourbon, 
White and Damask Roses. 

On a 2)receding page, we have given our opinion re- 
specting classification,, but we wish it to be fully under- 
stood, that we do not deny the existence of clearly dis- 
tinctive characters in the true French, Provence, Damask, 
etc., but simply assert that the lines of difference between 



GARDE^q" CLASSIFICATIOX. 53 

these so run into each other, and are so blended together, 




Fig. 4.— GAEDEK ROSE. 

that it is ahnost impossible to know where to place a new 
rose, which may partake of the qualities of all. We have 



54 



PAKSONS OX THE ROSE. 



mentioned Rivers as the most skillful and correct of rose- 
growers ; and yet, in classing Lady Fitzgerald and Mad- 
ame Hardy among the Damasks, he says that neither of 
them are pure Damask ; and the Duke of Cambridge, 
which at first he thought a Hybrid China, he now places 
as a Damask ; other similar instances are frequent. Many 
roses, moreover, are classed as hybrids which are not truly 
such. We are quite inclined to think that a large number 
of the varieties supposed to have been produced by hy- 
bridizing are nothing more than the natural produce, and 
that the pollen, in many cases, has not impregnated the 
pistil to which it was applied. With this uncertainty, 
therefore, as evinced by Rivers in his work, and with 
doubts of the hybridity of supposed hybrids, we deem it 
better to class them all together ; and, for the benefit of 
those who may prefer the old classification, to attach to 
each name the class by which it has been hitherto known. 

We write principally for the amateur, and we think he 
will find it less embarrassing to make a selection from this 
classification than from the old one. 

A great number of Garden Roses exist, but we describe 
here only a few distinct varieties, with colors which are 
seldom found among the Remontants. 

All the others have either their equals or their superiors 
among the Remontants, and being certain to bloom only 
once in the season, are scarcely worthy of cultivation, 
compared with the Remontants. 

Chen^dole^ H. C. — One of the most splendid varieties, 
and is truly beautiful. Its foliage and habit are very 
good, and its very luxuriant growth makes it a good pil- 
lar rose. Its flower is cupped, large, double, and fragrant, 
and its color is a rich, glowing crimson, of almost dazzling 
brilliancy. It is altogether the most desirable rose of this 
class. 

Charles Lawson, II* B. — This has handsome foliage, 



GAKBEN CLASSIFICATION. 



55 



and vigorous habit of growth, with large, symmetrical, 
and bright rose-colored flowers. 

Coupe d'H^be, H. B.— A gem of the family. It is large, 
double, symmetrical, and finely cupped. Its color a deli- 
cate, wax-like, rosy pink. Its growth is luxuriant, and 
adapted for pillars. 

Emerance^ H. P. — beautiful cupped rose, of a color 
unusual in this class, being of a pale lemon or straw 
color. Its form is very regular, and the habit of the plant 
good. 

George the Fourth, H. C. — An old rose, produced by 
T. Rivers, but is still one of the most desirable of this 
class. Its flowers are of a dark crimson, and its young 
shoots have a purple tinge. Its very luxuriant habit 
makes it suitable for a pillar. 

Julie d'Etranges, F. — This has a large cupped flower, 
of a delicate rose color. 

Madame Hardy, F, — A vigorous habit, and finely shaped 
flower. Its color is pure white, sometimes with a green 
centre. 

Madame Plantier, H. C. — A cupped and double pure 
white rose. It is a luxuriant grower, a most abundant 
bloomer, and one of the very best of the white summer 
roses. Its foliage is so marked in its richness and beauty 
that any one can readily distinguish it by that alone. 
Were it Remontant, it would possess all the requisites of 
a perfect white rose. 

Obscurite, F. — One of the darkest roses known. 

(Eillet Parfait, F. — A beautiful striped rose, resembling 
a carnation. Its form is compact, and its color a very 
light blush, nearly white, beautifully and distinctly striped 
with rose and brii^ht crimson. 

Tricolor de Flandre, F, — A very double, distinct, and 
compact flower. Its color is lilac, striped with red and 
crimson. 



56 



PAESOXS OX THE EOSE. 



MOSS EOSES. 

The Moss Rose ^ras introduced into Eno-land from Hoi- 
land in the sixteenth century, and is first mentioned by 
JNliller, in 172T, by whom it was supposed to be a sport of 
the Provence Rose, which opinion has been confirmed by 
modern botanists. Its peculiarities are the deUcate prick- 
les which crowd its stem, and the beautiful mossy cover- 
ing of its calyx. This mossy appearance has been deemed 
by some a mere lusus naturc^^ and by others the work of 
an insect similar to that which produces the Bedeguar, or 
Rose-gall. The former opinion, however, prevails ; and 
this freak of nature cultivators have succeeded in fixinor 
and perpetuating in a great number of varieties. The 
first Moss Rose known in France was said to have been 
introduced there bv Madame de Genlis, who broug^ht it 
with her on her return from England. In 1810, scarcely 
more than one variety was known, and now there exist 
more than a hundred. Of these, the best and most dis- 
tinct are the following : 

A Feuilles Pourpres, — A distinct rose. The flower is 
brio:ht red, and the vouno- leaves are red. 

Baronne fie Wassenaero — This has a good form, bright 

red color, and flowers in clusters. 

Captain Ingram. — Flowers of a dark, velvety purple. 

Comtesse de .Hurinais. — A vigorous habit. Its color is 
pale flesh, changing to pure white, and it is one of the 
best of the white Mosses. 

Common. — This is the old Rose-colored Moss, which 
has been generally cultivated in gardens. It grows well, 
blooms freely, is well covered with moss, and is one of 
the best of the old varieties. 

Cristata. — A very singular and beautiful variety, said 
to have been discovered in the crevice of a wall at Fri- 
burg, in Switzerland. Rivers classes it with the Provence 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



57 



Roses, and when open, it is merely a variety of that rose ; 
but when in bud, it is more properly a Moss, although its 
calyx is not covered with a fine moss, but has more of a 
crested appearance. In a rich soil this fringe-like crest 
most beautifully clasps and surmounts the bud, and gives 
the rich clusters a truly elegant appearance. Its form is 
globular, and its color rose. It is one of the few that do 
not grow well on their own roots, but require to be bud- 
ded on some strong-growing stock. 

Diane de CastrCi — Of a light rose color. 
Duchesse d^Istrie. — Of medium size, and with a bright 
rose color. 

Eui^ene de Savoie, — This was described among the 
Remontant Mosses. 

Gloire des MousseuseSt — A large and handsome flower, 
with a clear, pale rose color. 

Hooker's Blush. — A cupped rose, blooming in large 
clusters of a blush color. 

Hor tense Vernet. — Flowers of a dark rose color. 

Jenny Lind. — A small or medium-sized rose-colored 
flower. 

Laneii* — A vigorous grower, and has large and thrifty 
foliage. The buds are large and well mossed, and it is 
beautiful both in bud and expanded. Its color is bright 
rose. 

Luxembourg. — Like the last, of vigorous growth. Its 
flowers are a purplish crimson. 

Madame de Rochelambert. — This has large and full 
flowers, of an amaranth color. 

Madame Edouard Ory. — ^Tbis was described among 
the Remontant Mosses. 

Nuits de ¥oung. — Plant of a dwarf habit. Its flowers 
are small, with a deep, velvety purple color. 

Princesse Adelaide. — A remarkably vigorous-growing 
3* 



58 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



variety, with large and handsome foliage, and would 
make a good pillar rose. Its regularly formed flowers, 
of a bright pink or rose, are produced in clusters, and 
open w^ell. It does not bear close pruning. This is one 
of the most desirable of its class, and owes its origin to 
Laffay. 

Princess Royal. — A very robust rose, almost equal to 
the preceding in vigor. Its young leaves and branches 
have a red tinge, and its cupped flowers are of a deep 
crimson purple, marbled and spotted with red. Although 
not quite double when fully open, they are very beautiful 
when in bud. A moss rose, however double, is peculiar 
only in bud, for, when fully expanded, the mossy calyx 
must inevitably be hidden. 

Perpetual White. — This was described among the Re- 
montant Mosses, as also were 

Raphael, and 
Salet. 

William Lohh. — A good growing plant, with double 
flowers. Its color is carmine, shaded with violet. 

Like all other roses, and even in a greater degree, the 
Moss Rose requires a light and very rich soil, with a dry 
bottom. Many of them make very beautiful beds and 
patches, w^hen planted in rich soil, and kept well pegged 
down. A good supply of stable manure should be given 
them in the autumn, to be washed down about their roots 
by the winter rains. They do not generally require or 
bear so much pruning as other roses, but their bloom 
may sometimes be prolonged by shortening part of the 
shoots close, and only the tips of the remainder. When 
properly cultivated, few objects can be more beautiful 
than these roses, either singly or in masses. Without 
making so brilliant a show as some other classes, the moss 
which envelops them imparts a touch of graceful beauty 
belonging to no other flower. 



GAKDEIS" CLASSIFICATIOX. 



59 



SCOTCH EOSES. 

These roses are all derived from a dwarf rose found 
growing wild in Scotland and in the north of England. 
They are distinguished by their small leaves, abundant 
bloom, and delicate habit. Being perfectly hardy, they 
are desirable for beds or borders, in which, with projDcr 
arrangement of colors, they show beautifully, sometimes 
two weeks before other roses open, j^roducing flowers 
all along the stem. Rose growers describe, in their cata- 
logues, two or three hundred varieties, but of them all, 
scarcely forty or fifty are distinct ; of these the best three 
are the following : 

Countess of Glasgow. — A very pretty and brilliant dark 
rose, blooming abundantly. 

Queen of May. — A fine and distinct variety, of a bright 
pink color, 

William the Fourth. — An excellent variety, of luxuri- 
ant growth. Its flowers are pure w^hite, and among the 
laro;est of the class. 

BRIER ROSES. 

These roses are distinguished by their small, rough fo- 
liage and brier habit. They include the Sweet-Brier, the 
Hybrid Sweet-Brier, and the Austrian Brier. The Sweet- 
Brier is found in various parts of this country and in Eu- 
rope, and is distinguished by the peculiar delightful fra- 
grance of its leaves. Its simple little flower, found among 
the hedges, has been long a favorite, and, under the name 
of Eglantine, has been often the theme of poets. 

The Hybrid Sweet-Brier is allied to the preceding, but 
has larger foliage, and is of more robust growth. Many 
roses have been placed in this class and among the Sweet- 
Briers that have none of the peculiar scent of the Sweet- 
Briers ; and hence, again, the necessity of classing togeth- 



eo 



PARSON'S OX THE ROSE. 



er these and tlie Austrian Briers, respecting whicli there 
is much confusion. The true Austrian Rose is a native 
of the South of Europe, and is a clearly distinct rose ; but 
some have been called Austrian Trhich have scarcely any 
of the characters of the original rose. All three, how- 
ever, are Briers, that is, they produce their flowers on 
short joints all along the stem, and have the peculiar rough, 
briery leaves. ^Te therefore place them all together, at- 
tachino' as before the name of the old class. The best are 
the folloTrino' : 

CI' 

Celestial 5 S. B. — A small cupped rose, very double and 
fragrant, of a -pole flesh-color and very pretty. 

Copper Austrian, A, B. — A very singular looking rose, 
bloomino' well in this climate. The inside of the flower 
is of a coppery-red, and the outside inclining to pale yel- 
low or sulphur. It is desirable for its peculiar color. 

Double Margined Hip, Ho S. B. — Of luxuriant growth, 
almost adapted for a j^illar. Its form is cupj^ed, and its 
color creamy- white, shaded with pink. 

Double Yellow Proreuce is the best of the two vari- 
eties which compose the sj^ecies called Sulphurea. We 
have never seen its flowers, and English writers all speak 
of the great difiiculty of making it bloom. Rivers 3*ec- 
o mm ends to bud it on strong stocks, and says that it 
blooms most profusely in the warm, dry climate of Flor- 
ence and Genoa. The j^lant grows with luxuriance and 
produces plenty of flower-buds, which, with proper culture, 
would jDrobably open in our warm climate, which is very 
similar to that of Florence and Genoa. Its small folia see 
and slender, thorny V\"ood, place it fairly among the Bri- 
ers. Its flower is so fine that it is well Avorth the trouble 
of repeated experiment to obtain a good bloom. It has 
long been admired and exercised the skill of rose grow- 
ers, as is proved by the following passages from some old 
works, which give instructions for proper culture : 



GAllDEN" CLASSIFICATION. 



61 



Whereas all other roses are best natural, this is best 
inoculated upon another stock. Others thrive and bear 
best in the sun ; this, in the shade : therefore the best way 
that I know to cause this rose to bring forth fair and 
kindly flowers, is performed after this manner. First in 
the stock of a Francfort Rose, near the ground, put in the 
bud of the single yellow rose, which will quickly shoot to 
a good length ; then, half a yard higher than the place 
where the same was budded, put into it a bud of the 
double yellow rose, which growing, the suckers must be 
kept from the root, and all the buds rubbed off, except 
those of the kind desired, which, being grown big enough 
to bear (which will be in two years), it must in winter be 
pruned very near, cutting off all the small shoots, and 
only leaving the biggest, cutting off the tops of them 
also, as far as they are small. Then in the spring, when 
the buds for leaves come forth, rub off the smallest of 
them, leaving only some few of the biggest, which, by 
reason of the strength of the stock, affordeth more nour- 
ishment than any other, and the agreeable nature of the 
single yelloAV rose, from whence it is immediately nourish- 
ed, the shoots will be strong and able to bear out the 
flowers, if they be not too many, which may be prevented 
by nipping off the smallest buds for flowers. The tree 
should stand something shadowed, and not too much in 
the heat of the sun, and in a standard by itself, rather 
than under a wall." That which follows is from a book 
called Sijstema Ilorticulturce^ dated 1688: — ''There is no 
flower-bearing tree that yields blossom so beautiful as the 
rose, whereof the yellow Provence Rose is the most beau- 
tiful where it brings forth fair and kindly flowers, which 
hath been obtained by budding a single yellow rose on the 
stock of a flourishing Francfort Rose near the ground: 
when that single yellow is well grown, in that branch inoc- 
ulate your double yellow rose ; then cut off all suckers and 
shoots from the first and second, leaving only your last. 



62 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



which must be pruned very near, leaving but few buds, 
which will have the more nourishment, and yield the 
fairer and more entire blossoms. This tree, or a layer 
from a rose of the same kind, delights most, and blows 
fairest, in a cold, moist, and shady place, and not against 
a hot wall." 

Harrisonii* — A fine yellow Brier of American origin, 
and is perhaps the best hardy yellow rose for general cul- 
tivation. 

Persian Yellow, A. B. — This is the deepest yellow rose 
known, and is a highly improved edition of the Harris- 
on. Its flowers are more double, and of a deeper yellow 
than that rose. It grows freely, blooms abundantly, and 
its small double flowers possess a richness of color un- 
equaled by any other rose. 'No garden should be without 
it. It should be added, however, that it is exceedingly 
difficult to strike from cuttings, and is one of those few 
varieties for which budding upon another stock is prefer- 
able. 

Rose Angle, S« B, — An excellent variety, with very 
fragrant foliage, and large double flowers of a bright rose 
color. It is one of the best of the true Eglantines. 

Like the Moss Roses, the Briers will not bear much 
pruning, and require merely the tips of the shoots to be 
cut off*. 

AYRSHIRE ROSES. 

This class is very valuable for covering unsightly places, 
old buildings, and decayed trees. They bloom some two 
weeks earlier than other roses, and will grow in soil where 
others would scarcely vegetate. Hence they are valuable 
for covering naked sand-banks, or bare spots of earth, and 
their roots would be of material assistance in keeping up 
the soil of loose banks. Rivers gives an extract from the 
Dundee Courier, showing the eflfect produced by some of 
these roses. 



GARDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



63 



" Some years ago, a sand pit at Ellangowan was filled 
up with rubbish found in digging a well. Over this a 
piece of rock was formed for the growth of plants which 
prefer such situations, and among them were planted some 
half dozen plants of the Double Ayrshire Rose, raised in this 
neighborhood about ten years ago. These roses now most 
completely cover the Avhole ground, a space of thirty feet 
by twenty. At present they are in full bloom, showing 
probably not less than ten thousand roses in this small 
space." 

The Ayrshire Roses are also valuable for weeping trees ; 
when budded on a stock some ten or twelve feet high, the 
branches quickly reach the ground, and protecting the 
stem from the sun by their close foliage, present a weep- 
ing tree of great beauty, loaded with flowers. 

Dundee Rambler. — One of the best and most double 
of the Ayrshire Roses. Its color is white, often edged 
with pink, and blooming in large clusters. It is a very 
desirable variety. 

Double Blush Ayrshire, — A most vigorous climber, 
with a pretty flower, and will grow in the poorest soil. 

BAi^KSIAIN' EOSES. 

Roses of this class have a very small flower closely re- 
sembling that of the double Spircea prunifolia^ and 
blooming in clusters of about the same size. In this 
climate they require the protection of a green-house, and 
are very striking for the great profusion of their corymbs 
of pure white or deep yellow flowers. We recollect see- 
ing, at the Botanic Garden at Naples, a very large plant 
of the Banksian Rose, the main stem being six inches in 
diameter, and branching off into a dozen others, fifty feet 
or more long. In the Southern States they would grow 
well in the open air, and being most vigorous climbers, 
would soon cover a house or trellis, and, with their small 



64 



PAESONS OX THE KOSE. 



but most abundant flowers interspersed among tlie smooth 
glossy -green foliage, would form an object of great beauty^ 

Double White, — Introduced into England from China 
in 1807, and named in honor of Lady Banks. It is a 
beautiful little rose about half an inch in diameter, bloom- 
ing abundantly in small and pure white clusters with a 
slight perfume like that of the violet. 

Double Yellow. — Introduced in 1827. It has bright 
buff-yellow flowers ; these are produced in great abund- 
ance, and give a pleasant j)erfume before the dew is off 
early in the morning, or just at evening. 

Fortuniana. — Introduced by Fortune in 1850. It has 
white fragrant flowers of much larger size than the pre- 
ceding varieties. Its want of the petite character of the 
others makes it less beautiful and strikino^. 

Jauue Serin. — A luxuriant growing variety, with yel- 
low flowers of larger size than those of the old Yellow 
Banksia. 

The Banksian Roses do not bear much pruning. It 
should be done immediately after the bloom is over, and 
then only the heavier branches cut out, leaving those 
which are full of flower-bearing twigs, which should not 
be shortened. If the branches are all shortened, the 
plants will produce an abundance of strong, new wood, 
but no flowers. 

BOUJRSATJLT EOSES. 

This class is marked by its long, flexible, reddish shoots, 
which grow rapidly, and are perfectly hardy. Their 
smooth bark renders them desirable for stocks to bud up- 
on, and a fine rose of this class, covering a trellis and bud- 
ded with roses of various colors, would present a beauti- 
ful appearance. These, also, are impatient of much 
pruning. 



GAEDEN CLASSIFICATION. 



65 



AmadiS« — One of the best, with its pendulous clusters 
of large purplish-crimson flowers. 

Blusb. — This has large, double, blush flowers. 

EVEEGEEEN EOSES. 

The original of this class is the Bosa semper \)ir ens ^ a 
wild rose of Italy. They are very beautiful and desirable, 
and although not entirely evergreen in this climate, retain 
their foliage very late in the season. They are very easy 
of cultivation, and most luxuriant chmbers over naked 
trees, old houses, fences, and walls, or along the surface of 
the ground, which they will soon cover to the exclusion 
of all weeds, and present a large mass of rich, glossy foli- 
age, and abundant bloom. When thus planted, the large 
weeds should be pulled up until the plant fairly covers 
the ground, when no more attention will be needed. They 
are well adapted for training up columns, and we know 
of few things more beautiful than a temple formed of 
numerous columns, with Evergreen Roses growing lux- 
uriantly upon them and festooned gracefully between. 
Nothing, indeed, can be more gracefully beautiful than 
festoons, wherever they can be made. They constitute 
the chief beauty of the vine-clad fields of Italy, and there 
would be no less beauty in occasional festooning of roses 
trained between pillars or the trees of a lawn. They are 
also very beautiful when budded on high standards, their 
dark-green glossy foliage weeping to the ground, and 
forming a fine dome or pyramid of leaf and bloom. When 
pruned in the ^\'inter, the branches may be thinned out, 
but not shortened ; for if pruned close, they will make a 
luxuriant growth the next season, but will produce no 
flowers. 

F^licit^ Perpetuelle. — A most beautiful rose, and one 
of the very best of the class ; when properly cultivated, 



66 



PARSONS OX THE KOBE. 



it produces an abundance of very double creamy-white 
.flowers, shaped like a double ranunculus. 

Melanie de Montjoie, — A variety of much beauty. Its 
abundant and glossy dark-green foliage contrasts beauti- 
fully with its large, pure white flowers. 

Myrianthes. — One of the best of this class. Its flow- 
ers are perfectly shaped, and of a very delicate rose color. 

Triomphe de Bollwiller, — A very fine hybrid between 
the Evergreen and Tea Roses. It is rather tender in this 
climate, but valuable for its tendency to bloom in the au- 
tumn. Its flowers are very large, double, fragrant, and 
globular, and their color is a blush or creamy white. At 
the South, where it would not be killed by the cold weath- 
er, this would be one of the most desirable climbing roses. 

HYBEID CLIMBmG BOSES. 

We include here some wbich do not belong to any of the 
distinct classes. 

Indica Major, — A hybrid climbing rose, of most lux- 
uriant growth and nearly evergreen foliage. Its flowers 
are very large, double, and of a delicate rose color. The 
very rapid growth of this rose makes it excellent for cov- 
ering old buildings. We recollect being shoAvn, at the 
Bartram garden of Philadelphia, a fine old plant which 
bad covered the whole side of the house, and presented a 
beautiful appearance. Buist states it to be this variety. 

Madame dMrblay is a truly gigantic hybrid climber, 
perfectly hardy, and with strong. Bourbon-like foliage. It 
blooms in large clusters of pure white flowers, and is a 
truly excellent variety. 

Menoux* — This variety has crimson flowers, a color 
which is not common among climbing roses* 

Sir Jolm Sebri^bt. — A hybrid Musk rose, grown by 



GARDET^ CLASSIFICATION. 



67 



Rivers. Its flowers are produced in large clusters, are 
very fragrant, and their color is a bright crimson-scarlet. 

The Garland* — A most vigorous hybrid climber, bloom- 
ing in immense clusters of fragrant, creamy-white flowers, 
changing to blush after expansion. .When in full bloom, 
the contrast of the large white clusters with the bright 
green foliage is very beautiful. 

MULTIFLOKA KOSES, 

The parent of this class is a native of China and Japan. 
They are unfortunately somewhat tender in this climate. 
We have known them to endure safely several winters 
when unprotected, but they are unreliable in this respect. 
One of the best is 

Grevillei or Seven Sisters. — It has a remarkably vig- 
orous growth, and blooms with unusual profusion. A 
large i^lant will not unfrequently show more than a thou- 
sand flowers, all blooming in clusters and of several shades 
of color. This variety is impatient of much pruning. 

De la Grifferaie. — This bears the knife better than the 
preceding, and may be grown as a bush with proper 
pruning. It is hardier than others of the class, and bears 
a profusion of blush and rose-colored flowers. 

Laure DaVOUSt. — One of the most beautiful of the 
Multiflora Roses, and of most luxuriant growth. It has 
larger flowers and handsomer foliage than any of the other 
Multiflora Roses, and blooms in immense clusters of per- 
fect flowers, changing from white to pink. For covering 
houses or trellises it is very desirable. 

Russellianae — This is very vigorous, and yet bears 
pruning so well that it may be grown as a bush. Its 
clusters are large, and the flowers change as they open 
from dark to light red lilac, giving it a singular appearance. 



68 



PAESO^iTS ON THE ROSE. 



THE PEAIRIE EOSE. 

The double varieties of the original Michigan Rose, or 
Hosa ruhifolia^ have nearly all been produced by Samuel 
Feast, of Baltimore, while a few new varieties owe their 
origin to Joshua Pierce, of Washington. Tbey are re- 
markable for their perfectly hardy nature, braving equally 
well the frosts of Canada or the heat of Louisiana. The 
leaves are large, rather rough, and of a rich dark-green. 
They grow with unexampled rapidity, exceeding in this 
respect any of the climbing roses, and would cover old 
buildings or naked ground in a very short space of time. 
They bloom after the other summer roses are mostly gone, 
and produce their flowers abundantly in large clusters of 
different shades, from the shaded white of Baltimore 
Belle to the rich deep rose of 

Queen of the Prairies. — This is the best, and of the 
most luxuriant growth. Its large flowers are of a peculiar 
cupped form, almost globular, when in bud, and altogether 
of very perfect shape. They are of a deep rose color, with 
a white stripe in the centre of each petal. This rose is 
truly superb, and, for our cold winters and hot sun, an 
unequaled climber. It would be a fine rose to cover a 
trellis or building, and then bud into its branches a dozen 
different Remontant or Bourbon Roses of various colors. 
The tout ensemhle would be superb. 

Baltimore Belle. — This variety is thought by some to 
have a strain of Noisette sap in it from the delicacy and 
beauty of its flower and its tendency to bloom in the au- 
tumn. It produces abundant clusters of white flowers 
shaded with a slight cloud of pink. It is one of the finest 
climbing roses known. 

Gem of the Prairie. (Burgess'.) — A hybrid between 
the Queen of the Prairies and the Remontant, Madame 
Laffay. It is said to combine the vigorous growth of the 
one with the rich color and delicate fragrance of the 



GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



69 



other. We have not grown this variety, but take the 
description from the Horticultural Annual for 1868. 

JanCt — Very double, of a deep rosy lilac. 

Mrs. Hovey. — This has large white flowers, and all the 
vigor of its class. 

Pride of Washington. — A rosy lilac, and double. 

There are several other varieties in this class, but the 
preceding are the best. 

CHAPTER ni. 
GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 

As before stated, the Rose was the theme of the earli- 
est j)oets of antiquity ; and it was doubtless one of the 
first plants selected to adorn the gardens which were laid 
out around the new habitations constructed upon the ex- 
chanofe of the wandering^ for a civilized mode of life. 

The most ancient authors upon husbandry, whose works 
are extant, have all treated of the culture of Roses : Theo- 
phrastus among the Greeks ; and among the Romans, 
Varro, Columella, Palladius, and Pliny. To Pliny are we 
specially indebted for information on this subject, as the 
entire fourth chapter of the twentieth book of his Natu- 
ral History is devoted to Roses ; and they are also occa- 
sionally mentioned in other parts of the work. But after 
all the information thus obtained, much yet remains to be 
desired; and although we find in other ancient authors 
some curious facts bearing upon other points in the his- 
tory of the Rose, they are mostly so general in their 
character as to give us very little insight into the actual 
culture of the Rose at those periods. 



70 



PAESOXS OX THE EOSE. 



The profuseness with which they were used among the 
Greeks, the Romans, the Egyptians, and other ancient 
nations in their religious solemnities, their public cere- 
monies, and even in the ordinary customs of private life, 
would lead us to suppose, and with some degree of cor- 
rectness, that roses were very abundantly cultivated by 
them all ; and we are inclined to think that their cultiva- 
tion was then fir more general than at the present time, 
although the art of producing them was in its infancy. 
However surprising in other respects may have been the 
progress of the culture of roses within forty years, par- 
ticularly in France, Holland, and Belgium, there can be 
little doubt that, although the Romans were acquainted 
with a much smaller number of varieties than the mod- 
erns, yet flowers of those varieties were far more abund- 
ant than the aggregate quantity of flowers of all the 
varieties of roses cultivated at the present day. It can- 
not be positively asserted that the Remontant Roses of 
the present time were unknown at Rome, since the gar- 
deners of that city practiced sowing the seeds of the Rose, 
by which mode many of the most remarkable varieties of 
that class have been obtained by modern cultivators. The 
Romans, however, preferred to propagate by cuttings, 
which produced flowering plants much sooner than those 
from the seed. 

But, though the Romans may have had roses of the 
same species with some of those which we now cultivate, 
it is scarcely probable that these species could have con- 
tinued until this period, and escaped the devastation at- 
tendant on the revolutions of empire, or the more deso- 
lating invasions of the Huns and Goths. . Thus it is, that 
those roses of Paestum, to which allusion is so frequently 
made by ancient writers, and which, according to Yirgil 
and Pliny, bloomed semi-annually, and were common in 
the gardens of that city, are not now to be found. J ussieu 
and Loudresse, two French gentlemen, successively visit- 



GENERAL CULTUEE OF THE ROSE. 



71 



ed Italj with the express object of finding this twice- 
bearing Rose in Paestum or its environs, yet, notwith- 
standing their carefully prosecuted researches, they could 
find no traces of it whatever. 

Although the number of varieties known to the Ro- 
mans was very limited, they had discovered a method of 
making the blooming season continue many months. Ac- 
cording to Pliny, the roses of Carthage, in Spain, came 
forward early and bloomed in winter ; those of Campania 
bloomed next in order ; then those of Malta ; and lastly 
those of Paestum, which flowered in the spring and au- 
tumn. It was probably the blooming of this last species 
which the gardeners of Rome discovered (in Seneca's 
time) the secret of retarding by a certain process, or of 
hastening by means of their warm green-houses. 

In the first part of this w^ork, we have cited many pas- 
sages from ancient authors, which show to what an enor- 
mous extent the use of roses was carried by the Romans 
on certain occasions. It is difficult to credit, at this day, 
the relation of Nero's extravagance (which is, however, 
attested by Suetonius), when it is told that in one fete 
alone he expended in roses only^ more than four millions 
of sesterces, or one hundred thousand dollars. It would 
be no easy matter, even at the present period of abund- 
ant cultivation of Roses, to obtain from all the nurseries 
of England, France, and America together, roses sufficient 
to amount to so large a sum. 

The Romans derived the use of this flower from the 
|Greeks. In Greece, and throughout the East, roses were 
cultivated, not only for the various purposes we have 
mentioned, but also for the extraction of their j^erfumes. 
Among the many plans Avhich they adopted for preserv- 
ing the flower was that of cutting off the top of a reed, 
splitting it down a short distance, and enclosing in it a 
number of rose-buds, which, being bound around with 
papyrus, prevented their fragrance from escaping. The 



72 



parsojsts o>q- the rose. 



Greeks also deemed it a great addition to the fragrance 
of the Rose to plant garlic near its roots. The island of 
Rhodes, which has successively borne many names, was 
particularly indebted to the culture of roses for that which 
it bears at this day. It was the Isle of Roses, the Greek 
for Rose being Fodov, — Rodon. 

Medals of Rhodes, whose reverse impressions present a 
rose in bloom on one side, and the sunflower on the other, 
are to be found even now in cabinets of curiosities. 

Extravagance in roses, among the Romans, kept pace 
with the increase of their power, until they at length de- 
sired them at all seasons. At first they procured their 
winter's supply from Egypt, but subsequently attained 
themselves such skill in their culture as to produce them 
in abundance, even at the coldest season of the year ; 
and, according to Seneca, by means of green-houses, 
heated by pipes filled with hot water. During the reign 
of Domitian, the forcing of roses was carried to such per- 
fection, and flowers produced in winter in so great abund- 
ance, that those brought from Egypt, as before mention- 
ed, excited only the contempt of the citizens of the 
world's metropolis. 

This fact, as also handed down to us by the epigram 
of Martial, is of great assistance in estimating the import- 
ance of rose-culture at that period, and in showing how 
the art of cultivating this plant had spread, and how it 
was already far advanced among the ancient Romans and 
their contemporaries. 

If the Egyptians cultivated roses for transportation to 
Rome during the winter, they must have had very exten- 
sive plantations for the purpose. The exportation could 
not have been of loose flowers, for they would have been 
withered long before the termination of the voyage ; nei- 
ther could it have been of rooted plants in a dormant 
state, as nurserymen now send them to every part of the 
world, because the Romans had at that time no means of 



GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



causing tliem to vegetate and bloom in the winter. On 
the contrary, the cultivators at Alexandria and Memphis 
must, of necessity, have sent them away in the vases and 
boxes in which they had planted them with that object, 
and when they were just beginning to break from the 
bud, in order that they might arrive at Rome at the mo- 
ment they commenced expanding. 

At that remote period, when navigation was far behind 
its present state of perfection, the voyage from the mouth 
of the Nile to the coast of Italy occupied more than 
twenty days. When this long voyage is considered, and 
also the quantity of roses required by the Romans to en- 
wreath their crowns and garlands, to cover their tables 
and couches, and the pavements of their festive halls, and 
to surround the urns which contained the ashes of their 
dead, it is evident that the Egyptians, who traded in 
roses, in order to satisfy the prodigality of the Romans, 
would be compelled to keep in readiness a certain number 
of vessels to be laden with boxes or vases of rose-plants, 
so prepared as not to bloom before their delivery at 
Rome. The cost of roses thus delivered in 'Rome must 
have been immense, but we do not lind a single passage 
in any of the ancient authors which can give any light on 
this point ; they only tell us that nothing for the gratifi- 
cation of luxury was considered too costly by the wealthy 
Roman citizens. Nor do they afford more positive inform- 
ation as to the species of Rose cultivated on tlie borders 
of the Nile, to gratify this taste of the Romans. Ac- 
cording to Delilc, there were found in Egypt, at the time 
of the French expedition into that country, only the 
White Rose and the Centifolia, or hundred-leaved — two 
species not very susceptible of cither a forcing or retard- 
ing culture. The only Rose known at that time, which 
bloomed in the winter, was the Rose of Poestum, referred 
to by Virgil, as " blferique rosarla Pmsti^'' and which 
was probably the same as our monthly Damask Rose, 
4 



74 



PAP.SOXS OX THE EOSE. 



and wliicli produced in Egypt and Rome flowers at all 
seasons, as the Damask does now with us, under a proper 
mode of culture. 

The extent to wliich the culture and commerce of roses 
was carried among the Romans is shown by the fact 
that, although they had confounded the tree and its flow- 
ers under one name — that of Hosa^ — they nevertheless 
gave particular appellations to the gardens or ground 
planted with rose-bushes. They were termed a Rosarium^ 
or a Bosetum, Ovid says, Quot amcena Rosarla floresp 
The dealer in roses was also designated by the distinctive 
appellation of Mosarius, 

In the latter part of the dechne of the Roman Empire, 
when paganism still existed to a great degree, there arose 
a people who formed, as it were, the connecting link be- 
tween the ancient and modern world — a people who ac- 
knowledged but one Supreme Ruler, and his sole vicege- 
rent. Mahomet ; a people whose origin was among the 
wildest tribes of Ishmael's descendants, who possessed in 
a great degree the luxuries of civilized life, and among 
whom the arts, sciences, and agrictilture, were very flour- 
ishing for many ages. Among the 3Ioors of Spain, the 
culture of the Rose was pursued vv'ith as much scientific 
and practical method as at the 2:)resent day, but with 
somewhat less happy resrdts. When in Paris, some years 
since, we became acqtiainted with Hardy, the chief di- 
rector of the Luxembourg gardens, and who is well 
known to rose growers, by the many beatitiftil varieties 
which he has originated. His interest in this subject was 
very great, and in 1828, he published in the Journal des 
Jard'ns some interesting observations which he had ex- 
tracted from a manuscript of 31. de la Xeuville. The 
latter having been employed a> military superintendent 
in Spain dtiring the war of lS,-23, translated from a 
Spanisli version some parrs of an Arabian work tipon cul- 



GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



75 



ture in general, in which that of the Rose was mentioned, 
with some important particulars. It stated that the 
Moors, who formerly conquered Spain, attached the high- 
est value to this most beautiful of their flowers, and culti- 
vated it with as much care as we do ourselves. " Accord- 
ing to Abu-el-Jair," says the translation, there are roses 
of many colors — carnation white, fallow or yellow, 
lapis-lazuli, or sky-blue. Some are of this last color on 
the outside, and yellow within. In the East they are ac- 
quainted with roses which are variegated with yellow and 
sky-blue, the inside of the corolla being of the one color, 
and the outside the other. The yellow-heart is very com- 
mon in Tripoli and Syria, and the blue-heart is found on 
the coast of Alexandria." To us, at the present day, this 
relation may with reason seem incredible, since amid the 
numerous varieties now existing, and the skill of their 
cultivators, we have in no instance been able to obtain a 
blue Rose. Abu-el-Jair may have ventured to state it as 
a fact without proj)er authority, for, according to M. de 
la Neuville, Abu-Abd^Uah-ebu-el-Fazel, another nearly 
contemporaneous author, enumerated a variety of roses 
without mentioning the blue. " There are," says this last 
author, " four varieties of roses: the first is named the 
Double White ; it has an exquisite odor, and its cup 
unites more than a hundred petals : the second is the Yel- 
low, which is of a golden color, and bright as the jonquil ; 
then the PurjDle ; and lastly the flesh-colored, wiiich is the 
most common of them all." Farther on the same author 
adds: "The number of species is supposed to be large : 
the Mountain or Wild ; the Double, which is variegated 
Avith red and white shades ; and the Cliincse. The Double, 
however, is the most beautiful, and is composed of forty 
to fifty petals." 

The Moors multiplied roses by all the various methods 
which are employed at this day: by suckers from the 
root, by cuttings, by budding, and by grafting. The 



76 



PAESOKS OK THE ROSE. 



pruning-tiiife was also freely used, in order to form regu- 
lar heads. 

There is a farther translation of De la l^euville from a 
Spanish version of the " Book of Agriculture," written by 
Ebu- Alwan, w^ho lived in the twelfth century, and who, in 
addition to his own experience, quoted largely from some 
Chaldaic and Arabic writers. He states that the Moors 
practiced two methods of sowing the seeds of the Rose. 
The first was in earthen pans — a mode adapted to delicate 
plants ; they were watered immediately after being sown, 
and afterward twice a week until autumn, when such care 
became unnecessary. The other method was sowing 
broadcast as grain is sown, then covering the seed-beds 
an inch deep with carefully sifted manure or fine mould, 
and giving them the requisite watering. The plants from 
these seed-beds did not produce flowers until the third 
year after their being thus prepared, and until they had 
been transplanted into squares or borders ; such is still the 
case with nearly all our summer roses, the only kind the 
Moors appear to have possessed. They also understood 
the art of forcing roses. " If you wish," says Haj, an- 
other author, " the Rose tree to bloom in autumn, you 
must choose one that has been accustomed to periodical 
waterings ; you must deprive it of water entirely during 
the heat of summer until August, and then give it an 
abundance of moisture ; this will hasten its growth, and 
cause the expansion of its flowers in great j^rofusion, 
without impairing its ability to bloom the ensuing spring, 
as usual." " Or else," adds the same author, " in the 
month of October, burn the old branches to the level of 
the earth, moisten the soil for eight consecutive days, and 
then suspend the watering; alternate these periods of 
moisture and drought as many as five times, and j)robably 
in about sixty days, or before the end of autumn, the roots 
will have thrown out vigorous branches, which will in due 
time be loaded with flowers, without destroying the 



GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 



77 



ability of the plant to bloom again the following spring." 
The climate in which the Moors lived — that of Cordova, 
Grenada, and Seville, where the winter is very mucli like 
our weather in mid-antumn — was very favorable to the 
cultivation of the Rose. In this country the same re- 
sults could doubtless be obtained in the Carolinas, and the 
experiment would be well worth trying, even in the lati- 
tude of New York. It would be no small triumph to 
obtain an autumnal bloom of the many beautiful varieties 
of French, Moss, or Provence Roses. Haj has also given 
the method of keeping the Rose in bud, in order to pro- 
long its period of blooming. His process, liowever, is of 
so uncertain a character, as scarcely to merit an insertion 
here. The manuscript of De la Neuville also contains 
particular directions for propagating roses, and for plant- 
ing hedges of the Eglantine, to protect the vineyards and 
gardens, and at the same time to serve as stocks for graft- 
ing. Nothing is omitted in the Arabian treatise which 
pertains to the management of this shrub ; the manner of 
cultivating, weeding, transplanting, watering, etc., are 
all particularly explained. Among a variety of curious 
matters, it contains the process by which, for the purpose 
of embellishing their gardens, they produced the appear- 
ance of trees whose tops are loaded with roses. A hollow 
jiipe, four feet long, or more, if the top was to be large, 
was obtained, of a well-proportioned diameter, set up- 
right, to resemble the trunk of a tree, and filled with earth 
or sand in a suitable state of moisture. In the top of 
this pipe were planted several varieties of roses, of differ- 
ent colors, which, rooting freely in the earth around them, 
soon formed a bushy head, and represented a third-class 
tree, clothed with rich foliage and beautiful flowers. 

This plan could now be practiced with success ; and 
we can scarcely imagine more beautiful objects in a lawn 
than a number of these pipes, of various heights, single, 
and in groups, some low, with the small heads of the 



78 



PARSONS O^^" THE KOSE. 



China or Tea Roses, others high, and with the large, ro- 
bust branches of the La Reine, and other Perpetuals, and 
others, again, planted with some delicate climbing roses, 
whose branches, falling down, would form a weeping tree 
of a most unique, graceful, and showy character. The 
j)ipes could be made of earthenware, tin, or wood, and be 
painted in imitation of the bark of a tree. Still better 
would be the trunk of a small tree, hollowed out for the 
purpose, which, with the bai*k on, would puzzle many a 
close observer, and Avhich could show a luxuriant head of 
leaves and flowers on the most sterile soil that ever formed 
a lawn. 

From what has been said on the culture of roses among 
the Moors in Spain, there can be no doubt that they had 
made great progress therein ; and with the exception of a 
few statements, evidently unfounded in fact, as the graft- 
ing of the Rose on the almond, the apple, the jujube, and 
other trees, the little treatise translated by De la Xeuville 
certainly contains most excellent remarks upon the culture 
of roses, whether we eomi)Sire them with what the an- 
cients have left us, or even with those of the various 
writers on Rose culture in Europe and America within 
the last half century. 

As roses were so frequently propagated from the seed 
by the Moors, they must have known quite a number of 
varieties, exclusive of all those they had brought or ob- 
tained from the East. The Yellow Rose, unknown to us 
until recently, was apparently familiar to them ; and the 
Blue Rose, of which their manuscripts speak, is now ex- 
tinct, if it indeed ever existed ; for amid the infinite 
variety of roses, of every color and shade, j^roduced from 
seed in modern times, no one has yet obtained a purely 
Blue Rose, and its former existence may well seem to us 
incredible. 

Besides the Moorish cultivation in Spain, the Rose has 
been an object of culture to a great extent in other coun- 



GENERAL CULTURE OF THE H0:6E. 



79 



tries. It lias been cultivated principally for the beauty of 
its flowers, but in many parts of Europe and Asia, and in 
the north of Africa, its culture has been pursued for com- 
mercial purj^oses. Of its abundance in Palestine, some 
conception may be formed from the statement of travel- 
ers, that they have not only seen them wild and in great 
profusion in the vicinity of Jerusalem, but have found 
.them in hedges, intermingled with pomegranate trees. 
Doubday states that, when the Eastern Cliristians made 
one of their j^rocessions in the Church of the Holy Sepul- 
chre at Jerusalem, which continued some two hours, many 
persons were present with sacks full of rose petals, which 
they threw by handfuls on the people, and in such im- 
mense quantities, that many were covered with them, and 
they were scattered all over the pavement. In Syria and 
Persia it has been cultivated from a very early period, and 
the ancient name of the former, Suristan^ is said to signify 
the land of roses. Damascus, Cashmere, Barbary, and 
Fayoum in Egypt, all cultivated the Rose extensively for 
its distilled oil or essence. Very little is extant respecting 
the culture of the Rose in the middle ages, but that it was 
cultivated and valued is known by its having been worn 
by knights at the tournament, as an emblem of their de- 
votion to grace and beauty. According to Loudon, 
'^Ludovico Verthema, who traveled in the East in 1503, 
observed that Ta3ssa was particularly celebrated for roses, 
and that he saw a great quantity of these flowers at Cali- 
cut." The Rose is to this day also extensively cultivated 
in India, and for commercial purposes perhaps in greater 
abundance than is now known in any other country. 
Bishop Ileber states that " Ghazepoor is celebrated 
throusrhout India for the wholesomeness of its air and the 
beauty and extent of its rose gardens. The Rose-fields, 
which occupy many hundred acres in the neighborhood, 
are described as, at the proper season, extremely beauti- 
ful. They are cultivated for distillation and for making 



80 



PARSOXS ON THE ROSE. 



' Attar of Roses.' " He states also, that " many roses 
were growing in the garden of the palace of Delhi, and 
the fountain pipes were carved with images of roses." 
Another writer describes in glowing colors the beauty of 
Ghazopoor, the Gul-istan (the rose beds,) of Bengal. " In 
the spring of the year, an extent of miles around the 
town presents to the eye a continual garden of roses, than 
which nothing^ can be more beautiful and frao-rant. The 
sight is perfectly dazzling ; the plain, as far as the eye can 
reach, exteuding in the same bespangled carpet of red and 
green. The breezes, too, are loaded with the sweet odor 
which is wafted far across the river Ganges." 

These statements sufficiently evince that the Rose was 
not only valued by the Hindoos as an article of commerce, 
but was intim.:.tely associated with their ideas of pleasure 
and enjoyment. 

Persia, however, was, above all other countries, preemi- 
nent for roses. " Sir John Chardin, in 1686, found the 
gardens of the Persians without parterres, labyrinths, and 
other ornaments of European gardens, but filled with 
lilies, jDcach trees, and roses ; and all modern travelers 
bear testimony to the esteem in which this flower is held 
in the East." Sir Wm. Ousley tells us, in his travels in 
Persia, in 1819, that when he entered the flower garden 
belonging to the Governor of the Castle, near Farso, he 
was overwhelmed Avith roses ; and Jackson, in his Journey , 
etc.^ says that the roses of the Sinan Nile, or Garden of 
the Nile, are unequaled ; and mattresses are made of their 
leaves, for men of rank to recline upon. Buckingham 
speaks of the rose plantations of Damascus as occupying 
an area of many acres, about three miles from that city. 
Sir Robert Ker Porter, speaking of the garden of one of 
the royal palaces of Persia, says : " I was struck with the 
appearance of two rose trees, full fourteen feet high, laden 
Avith thousands of flowers, in every degree of expansion, 
and of a bloom and delicacy of scent that imbued the 



GENERAL CULTURE OF THE ROSE. 81 

whole atmosphere with exquisite perfume. Indeed, I be- 
lieve that in no country in the world does the rose grow 
in such perfection as in Persia ; in no country is it so cul- 
tivated and prized by the natives. Their gardens and 
courts are crowded by its plants, their rooms ornamented 
with roses, filled with its gathered branches, and every 
bath strewed with the full-blown flowers, plucked with 
the ever-replenished stems. * ^ ^ But in this deli- 
cious garden of Negaaristan, the eye and the smell are not 
the only senses regaled by the presence of the Rose : the 
ear is enchanted by the wild and beautiful notes of multi 
tudes of nightingales, whose warblings seem to increase 
in melody and softness, with the unfolding of their favor- 
ite flowers. Here, indeed, the stranger is more powder- 
fully reminded, that he is in the genuine country of the 
nightingale and the Rose." Rivers mentions that Sir 
John Malcolm told him, that when in Persia he had once 
breakfasted on an immense heap, or rather mount, of roses, 
which the Persians had raised in honor of him. The rose 
of Cashmere has been long celebrated in the East, for its 
brilliancy and delicacy of odor — 

Who has not heard of the Yale of Cashmere, 

With its Roses, the brightest tliat earth ever gave ? " 

Throughout the w^hole season during which the roses 
remained in bloom in this beautiful valley, the Feast of 
Roses was kept with great rejoicing, and an entire aban- 
donment to pleasure. At this time, a great number of 
tents were pitched, and multitudes of men, women, boys, 
and girls, were dancing and singing to the music of their 
various instruments. 

All that has been handed down to us, and all we know 

at the present time of the climate and productions of 

Persia, and the customs of its inhabitants, prove that it 

was emphatically the land of roses ; and all that we can 

gather from its history or tradition evinces, that to the 
4* 



82 



PAESOXS OX THE KOSE. 



inhabitants of tlie East, incluclino- the Hindoos and the 
Moors of Spain, is this beautiful flower indebted for the 
most careful and abundant cultivation, and for a due ap- 
preciation of its merits. 

At the i^resent time the Rose is cultivated*, throughout 
the civilized world. Loudon speaks of hedges of mixed 
Provence Roses, in the garden of Rosenstein, in Germany, 
and also of their profusion in the public garden of Frank- 
fort. They are found in the gardens of Yalencia, in 
Spain, and Sir John Carr, speaking of the seat of a Span- 
ish gentleman near Tarragona, says, " The doors of the 
dining room open into a small garden, the walls of which 
are covered with myrtles, jasmines, and roses. In the 
Botanic garden of Madrid, rose trees are used for divid- 
ing hedges, and the liovv'er is a favorite throughout Spain. 

Among the Spanish ladies, the Rose is highly valued, 
and, with the Orange flower, is a favorite ornament for the 
hair. TTe have frequently been struck, while traveling in 
the Spanish T\^est Indies, and in some parts of South 
America, vv^ith the careful nurture and attention bestowed 
on a single rose bush, and the delight exhibited at its bloom, 
while all around in natural luxuriance were the most beau- 
tiful and gorgeous plants and flowers which the tropics 
can produce. The brilliant cactus, the beautiful oleander, 
the singular orchids, and the delicate and fragrant flowers 
of the co&e and orange, seemed cast into the shade by 
the ancient and well-known Rose. 

I well recollect, that on returning* one dav from a ride into 
the country, where I had been luxuriating in the gorgeous 
splendor of a tropical forest, the fair daughter of my host- 
ess wished to introduce me to a flower, which, in her 
oiDinion, far surpassed all that I had seen ; she accompanied 
me to the top of the flat-roofed house, used at the South 
as a place of evening resort, and there, in one corner, I 
found a thrifty plant of the Tea Rose, which to her infin- 
ite delight, was just showing above its glossy and delicate 



GENEKAL CULTURE OF THE EOSE. 



83 



young leaves, a little ruby-tipi3ed bud. This little plant 
had been the object of long and careful nursing, and her 
attention was now about to be rewarded by a fine and 
perfect bloom. 

In France, however, is the Rose a preeminent object of 
horticulture, both in commercial establishments and in 
private gardens. The skill of the French has originated 
many new and beautiful varieties, which are to be found 
in several of the nurseries in the United States. The 
French are constantly searching for improvements in hor- 
ticultural science and practice, with an enthusiasm rarely 
found in the more cold Eno-lishman, Vvdiose skill seems to 
consist less in the creation of new varieties, than in grow- 
ing perfectly those already known. IsTone, indeed, can 
surpass the English in the art of groAving fine plants, but 
we are chiefly indebted to the French for the finest new 
varieties of the Rose. 

In Great Britain, although comparatively little attention 
has been paid to the obtaining of new varieties, the culture 
is more careful and the nomenclature more correct. The 
competition excited by their numerous horticultural ex- 
hibitions causes great attention to be given to correct 
nomenclature and to symmetrical habit of growth. We 
can imagine nothing more beautiful than some of the 
plants that we saw at the exhibitions of the London Hor- 
ticultural Society at Chiswick; every plant was pruned, 
trained and grown, after an ideal, but perfect model, with 
its close and luxuriant foliage, its thrifty, symmetrical 
habit, and the thick, leathery petals of its well-cupped 
flower. This hig-h standard should be introduced into 
every Society, and if such Avere the case in this country 
and the rule Avere carefully obeyed, the character of our ex- 
hibitions Avould in a short time be very materially changed. 

T. RiA^ers is one of the most extensive rose cultivators 
in England, and is also knoAvn as the author of a A^ery ex- 
cellent descriptive work oif the Rose. He has also been 



84 



PAKSO^fS 02^ THE HOSE. 



successful in hybridizing, and lias originated some very fine 
varieties. His attention A\"as at one time directed almost 
exclusively to the Rose, but it now includes many other 
nursery articles, and on our visit to him, we found him 
much interested with experiments in fruit culture. Lane, 
Wood, and Paul, are esteemed very good cultivators, and 
generally correct in their nomenclature. From these sev- 
eral establishments in England and France have been im- 
j)orted most of the varieties now existing in this country. 
Their trade with the United States is, however, compara- 
tively limited, from the great risk of loss by a sea voyage. 
We have frequently lost in this way two-thirds or three- 
quarters of an importation, to our great annoyance and 
expense, and it is only by repeated and persevering im- 
portations that we have been able to obtain all the desira- 
ble varieties. 

In the United States the culture of the Rose has been 
very much neglected, until within a few years. Tulips 
and dahlias have successively been the rage, and although 
there has long existed a great variety of roses, compara- 
tively few of them have been cultivated, even in the best 
gardens of the United States. Now the tide is turning. 
Dahlias are going out of repute, and the Rose is resuming 
its ancient empire in the queendom of Flora. The advent 
of the Bourbon and the Remontant, or Perpetual classes, 
has no doubt materially aided this change, but it is in a 
great part owing to the easy culture of the plant, and the 
intrinsic merits and beauty of the flower. The taste of 
the horticultural public being thus decidedly for the Rose, 
a demand will exist for all the information respecting soil, 
plantings cultivating, etc., and this information we shall 
endeavor to supply in a simple and concise manner, avoid- 
ing, as far as possible, all technicalities, and adapting it to 
the use of the cultivator of a single plant in the crowded 
border of a city garden, or to the more extended culture 
of a commercial establishment. 



GENEEAL CULTURE OF THE TwOSE. 85 

Each cultivator has his peculiar mode of doing things, 
and there may be those who deem the mode laid down 
here inferior to their own. From these we should be glad 
to hear, and to make any corrections they may suggest, 
where such corrections appear to be founded upon true 
principles. In order to make our Avork as perfect as pos- 
sible, we have not hesitated to add to our own experience 
all the information derived from a j)ersonal ins^DCction of 
French and Eno-lish nurseries, and to cull from foreigfu 
works and periodicals all that may interest our readers. 
Such information, as far as it coincides with our own ex- 
j)eiience, we shall gladly incorporate, with the hope that 
we may be successful in presenting every fact of interest 
which may exist respecting the cultivation of our favorite 
flower. 



86 



PAKSONS 0]S" TIIS EOSE. 



CHAPTER IV. 
SOIL, SITUATION, AND PLAKTING. 

The most suitable soil is a strong, rich loam, or vegeta- 
ble mould mixed Avith about one-quarter its bulk of well- 
decomposed stable manure. If the soil of the garden 
where the roses are to be planted differs materially from 
this, it should be made to approach it as nearly as possible 
by the addition of the requisite soil and manure. In a 
good vegetable garden, the soil, with the addition of a 
little manure, w^ill grow the Rose well. When the soil, 
however, is of an inferior character, holes should be dug 
three or four times the size of the roots of a well-srrown 
rose bush and filled with compost of the above character. 

Rivers recommends, as the best compost for roses, rot- 
ten dung and pit-sand for cold, clayey soils ; and for warm, 
dry soils, rotten dung and cool loams. He also states 
that he has found night soil, mixed with the drainings of 
the dunghill, or even with common ditch or pond water, 
so as to make a thick liquid, the best possible manure for 
roses, poured on the surface of the soil twice in winter — 
one to tw^o gallons to each tree. The soil need not be 
stirred until spring, and then merely loosened two or three 
inches deep, w^ith the prongs of a fork ; for poor soil, and 
on lawns, previously removing the turf, this will be found 
most efficacious. He directs this compost to be applied 
in the first two winter months, but as our ground is fre- 
quently frozen so hard then that it cannot absorb the 
liquid, it would probably be best to apply it in this coun- 
try a month earlier. Where a bed or border of roses is 
to be planted, it is well to dig out the soil to the depth 
of two or two and a half feet ; fill the bottom to the depth 



SOIL, SITUATIOJJ", AND PLANTIXG. 



87 



of six inches with small stones, and then replace the earth, 
well fertilized, as directed above. Nothing is more in- 
jurious to the Rose than a wet, retentive subsoil ; and 
where expense and trouble are no object, this perfect 
draining is much the best calculated to ensure a thrifty 
growth and perfect bloom. A rich and dry soil is, in fact, 
all-important ; for otherAvise the most double flower will 
frequently become single or semi-double. We have seen 
a j^lant of La Reine produce a perfect flower in the green- 
house, and when removed to an inferior soil, produce 
flowers almost single. It may therefore be safely laid 
down as a rule, that it is impossible to make the soil too 
rich for the Rose, and that in proportion to tlie fertilizing 
matter contained therein, provided it is properly decom- 
posed, Avill be the approximation of the plant and the 
flower to perfection. The fertility of the soil may be very 
much assisted by frequent applications of liquid manure, 
made either of cow dung or guano ; the former is always 
safe ; the latter, valuable if properly used, may, in the 
hands of a careless person, ruin the plant. 

In these remarks on fertility of soil, we have no desire 
to discourage those who may not have a fertile soil, or the 
means of obtaining the elements of fertility. The Rose 
will grow and bloom in any soil; the wood will be 
healthy, but short and small; the flower will be produced, 
but, as we have said before, will be smaller and often semi- 
double ; yet even under these disadvantages, it is still the 
most desirable flower for the poor man ; none other can 
so cheaply and so well ornament his small yard, or hang- 
ing in graceful festoons about his windows, shed forth its 
bloom and sweetness to enliven his hours of relief from 
labor, and give his children happiness, from the associa- 
tion of pleasant thought Avith natural beauty. But the 
poor man has within his reach more than he supposes of 
the elements of fertility. The ashes of his hearth, the 
decomposed turf of the road-side, and the domestic ma- 



88 



PARSONS OX THE KOSE, 



nure, too generally thrown away, all contain some of the 
best fertilizmg matter, and with proper care could be 
made amply sufficient for the production of liis flowers 
and vegetables. The decomposed turf alone would grow 
roses admirably, although a little manure would be a use- 
ful addition. 

SITUATION. 



The best situation for the Rose is an eastern or northern 
exposure, rather than a southern ; the intensity of the heat 
of our midsummer often alfects injuriously the expansion 
of the flowers, their color, and fragrance. A useful de- 
gree of shade can be obtained by planting amidst groups 
of dwarf roses, pillars, trellises, obelisks, etc., on which 
climbing roses can be trained, and whose shadow, chang- 
ing with the sun, would protect the opening bloom and 
answer the same end as a cool situation. While, however, 
the Rose requires a cool, airy locality, it should by no 
means be placed entirely in the shade ; a portion of the 
sun's rays is always necessary to ensure a good bloom. It 
is from this cause that the bloom of roses is much more 
certain and perfect in France and this country than in 
England. In the latter country, the sun is scarcely ever 
sufficiently powerful to develop all the resources of a 
plant. The summer of 1846 w^as unprecedenteclly hot 
throughout England, and all the horticultural journals 
united in pronouncing the bloom of roses that season un- 
surpassed by the bloom of any previous year. For climb- 
ing roses the situation should not be too exj)osed, or Avhere 
they would be liable to encounter heavy winds, which 
might break ofi* the young shoots and in other ways injure 
the plant. Most of our American cities possess in the 
X3ulture of roses a sfreat advantaQ:e over the laro-e towns 
of England, in the use of anthracite instead of bituminous 
coal ; for, according to Loudon, the Rose will not thrive 



SOIL, SITUATIO^?^, ANI> PLA^?TING. 



89 



in towns where the preA'aiUng fuel is of this character, and 
the bloom will not compare with those produced some ten 
miles distant. "The first effect of the smoke is to pre- 
vent the flower buds from opening freely, next to diminish 
their number ; the leaves then gradually become smaller, 
and the length of the shoots less, after which the plant 
Aveakens by decrees, and in a few years, if a standard, it 
dies altogether, or, if a dwarf, barely exists, and seldom 
if ever flowers." 

Such a result, from such a cause, is rarely knowm here, 
and the resident of the city may have his little yard filled 
with roses whose bloom will be in no way inferior to that 
of the plants in an extensive lawn or garden. 

All those roses that bloom only once in the year, and 
also the Perpetuals, or Remontant Roses, can be planted 
in autumn, after the first severe frost. The ends of the 
roots, which have been broken in taking up, Avill then form 
a callus, and the soil will be so thoroughly settled about 
the roots by the winter rains, that the plant will com- 
mence forming new roots early in the spring, and will rap- 
idly make strong and luxuriant shoots. As far north as 
iN'ew York and its vicinity, the Bourbons and the Bengal, 
w^ith their sub-classes, being more delicate, should not be 
planted until spring. 

If the subsoil is wet and retentive of moisture, the 
planting of any roses should be deferred until spring, but 
from our jDreceding remarks it wall be borne in mind that 
such soil should be well drained before planting, in which 
case the autumn w411 still answer. 

The plant should be taken up carefully, with all the root 
possible, bearing in mind that the elements of life are in 
the root, and every fibre that is lost is so much taken from 
the future health and prosperity of the plant. The root 



90 



PAESOXS THE ROSE. 



should then be carefully exammed, and every portion that 
has been bruised should be cut off; all the broken ends 
should also be cut away as far as they are split or injured. 
Any root of the character of a tap-root, or growing di- 
rectly down into the earth, should be cut off; for it is best 
to encourage only lateral roots, which can more readily 
partake of the benefits of the rain and sun, and can more 
effectually absorb the nutriment in the soil. 

In the sjDring the hole for each ^Dlant should be dug 
somewhat larger than the root, and the bottom fork- 
ed, or dug up, and if necessary enriched with the surface 
soil, which, it is presumed, has been j)repared according 
to preceding directions. Let one hold the plant, while 
another throws in the soil ; or if one alone is planting, let him 
hold the stem just above the root with one hand, and throw 
in the soil with the other, moving the stem from side to side, 
and occasionally pulling it upward a little and shaking the 
root until the soil has worked well among the fibres ; on 
which much of the subsequent prosperity of the jDlant de- 
pends. If the weather is dry, a little water may be 
placed in the hole, which should then be filled up and the 
soil well trodden down about the stem. "When planted, 
it should be very little, if at all, lower in the ground than 
before; very little of the stem should be buried; and 
when trodden down, the root should be made firm and 
solid. 

In planting climbing or pillar roses, care should bo 
taken to set the trellis, or pillar, or whatever may be used 
for their support, before the plant is put in the ground; 
for if such should be set after the plant has commenced 
growing vigorously, it will in all probability damage the 
roots, and give the plant a check from which it vrill not 
recover during the whole season. 

The Rose, even in the best soils, should be taken up ev- 
ery three or four years, and have its roots shortened and 
pruned ; a portion of the soil in which it grew should 



SOIL, SITUATION, AND PLANTING. 



91 



also be removed and replaced by soil of the character be- 
fore described. Where the soil is poor, they should be 
taken up every other year, and replanted, after renewing 
the soil as above, or digging it with plenty of manure. 

Van Mons states that in Belgium the plants are uni- 
formly taken up at the end of eight years and placed in 
fresh soil, or they are thrown away and young plants sub- 
stituted in their place. This substitution of young plants 
is perhaps the most certain mode of ensuring a continual 
supply of strong, healthy wood and well-formed flowers. 

The Rose may be transplanted at any season, provided 
the shoots are pruned closely and deprived of all their 
leaves, and the soil in which they are planted kept well 
watered. The ^flowering also may be retarded in this 
way, and those roses that bloom only once in the season, 
if they are transplanted jast before they are coming into 
flower, and properly pruned, will bloom in autumn. The 
autumn and spring, or the dormant season, however, is 
the proper period for all transplanting. 

Whether planted in autumn or spring, if purchased of 
a nurseryman, they should be ordered in the autumn. In 
the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, the 
first few warm days, operating upon their excitable nature, 
will start them into growth. If then the nurseryman has 
a large number of orders on hand, some of them will in- 
evitably be delayed until the plants have grown too much. 
If ordered in the autumn, the purchaser should not expect 
to receive them before the 10th or 15th of November. 
No nurseryman who values his reputation will allow roses 
to leave his grounds before the vegetation is checked by 
several heavy frosts, and the wood and roots allowed time 
thereafter to thoroughly ripen. Dealers who desire roses 
early, in order to deliver with other plants, sometimes 
rebel at this ; but purchasers should understand that roses 
will not flourish unless the wood and roots are thoroughly 
ripe. This applies more particularly to the Remontant, 



92 



PAESONS ON THE EOSE. 



Moss, and June roses. The Tea, China, and Noisette, 
will bear taking up at any time, but their roots will rarely 
be in a condition to endure the cold as far north as New 
York without some protection. When received from the 
nurseryman in the autumn, they should be carefully and 
separately heeled-in in a dry piece of land, and covered 
with sand. A covering of litter should be avoided, be- 
cause it affords a harbor for mice, who would soon destroy 
the plants. 

Plants from the open ground are always to be preferred 
by the purchaser. Those sold in pots in the spring have 
frequently been forced, and will require a long period of 
rest before growing again, while those from the open 
ground, having had their rest, will grow luxuriantly at 
once. 

It should also be remembered by the purchaser that the 
delicate roots of the Rose will not bear exposure to the 
air. All reputable nurserymen understand this, and pack 
in moss. Dealers, however, who purchase of these nurs- 
erymen, and who have many lots to deliver after they are 
unpacked, are often not sufficiently careful to guard the 
roots against exposure. The plants then failing to grow 
well, the fault is attributed to some deficiency in the plant, 
rather than to its true cause. To ensure safety while be- 
ing delivered, dealers should dip them, as soon as un- 
packed, in a puddle of mud of the consistency of thick 
paint. This precaution is useful in every case after un- 
packing and before planting, for there must always be 
some delay and exposure even when the purchaser obtains 
plants directly from the grower. 



PRUOTXG, TRAINIXG, AND BEDDING. 



93 



CHAPTER V. 
PRUNING, TRAINING, AND BEDDING. 

In pruning roses at the time of transplanting, the prin- 
cipal object to be attained is relief to the plant by taking 
away all the wood and branches w^hich the diminished 
root may not be able to support. The mode of pruning 
depends very much upon the condition of the plant. If 
it is very bushy, all the w^eaker branches should be cut 
away, leaving not more than three or four of the strong- 
est shoots, and shortening even those down to a few eyes. 
If it is desired that the plant should continue dwarf and 
bushy, the new wood should be cut down to the lower 
two eyes, and every half-grown or slender shoot cut out. 
These two eyes will each throw out a branch ; then cut 
these branches down to the two eyes, and again cut back 
the shoots they produce until a symmetrical habit is 
formed, with close, thick foliage. There should not be 
sufficient wood allowed to remain to make the bush 
crowded ; and if there should be danger of this, some of 
the branches, instead of being cut down to two eyes, 
should be removed altoo'ether. 

Climbing roses, w^hen planted, should be cut down al- 
most to the ground, and also carefully thinned out. Only 
a few of the strongest branches should be preserved, and 
the new wood of these cut down to two eyes each. 

The preceding remarks are applicable to roses at the 
time of planting ; they should also be pruned every year, 
— the hardy varieties in the autumn or winter, and the 
more tender in the spring. For all roses that are not lia- 
ble to have part of their wood killed by the cold, the 
autumn is decidedly the best time for pruning ; the root, 
having then but little top to support, is left at liberty to 
store up nutriment for a strong growth the follow^ing 
season. The principal objects in pruning are the removal 



94 



PARSOXS THE ROSE. 



of the old wood, because it is generally only the young 
wood that produces large and fine flowers ; the shortening 
and thinning out of the young wood, that the root, having 
much less wood to support, may devote all its nutriment 
to the size and beauty of the flower ; and the formation 
of a symmetrical shape. If an abundant bloom is de- 
sired, without regard to the size of the flower, only the 
weak shoots should be cut out, and the strong wood 
should be shortened very little ; each bud will then pro- 
duce a flower. By this mode, the flowers will be small, 
and the growth of new wood very short, but there will 
be an abundant and very showy bloom. If, however, the 
flowers are desired as large and as perfect as jDOSsible, all 
the weak wood should be cut out entirely, and all the 
strong wood formed the last season should be cut down 
to two eyes. The knife should always be applied di- 
rectly above a bud, and sloping upward from it. The 
preceding observations apply principally to rose bushes, 
or dwarf roses ; with pillar, climbing, and tree roses, the 
practice should be somewhat difierent. The former two 
need comparatively little pruning ; they require careful 
thinning out, but should seldom be shortened. The very 
young side shoots can sometimes be shortened in, to pre- 
vent the foliao'e from becomino; too thick and crowded. 

Pillars for roses can be made of trellis work, of iron 
rods in difierent forms, or of wood, but they should en- 
close a space of at least a foot in diameter. The cheapest 
plan, and one that will last many years, is to make posts 
of about 1| or 2 inches square, out of locust or pitch- 
pine plank, and connect them Avith common hoop-iron. 
They should be the length of a plank — between twelve 
and thirteen feet — and should be set three* feet in the 
ground, that they may efiectually resist the action of the 
wind. The Rose having been cut down to the ground, is 
planted inside of the pillar, and will make strong growths 
the first season. As the leading shoots appear, they 



PEUNING, TRAINING, AND BEDDING. 



95 



should be trained spirally around the outside of the pillar, 
and sufficiently near each other to enable them to fill up 
the intermediate space with their foliage. These leading 
shoots will then form the permanent wood, and the young 
side shoots, pruned in from year to year, wall produce the 
flowers, and at the flowering season cover the whole pil- 




Fig. 5.— PILLAR ROSE. Fig. 6.— ROSE PYRAMID. 



lar with a mass of rich and showy bloom. Figure 5 gives 
the appearance of a pillar of this kind. If the tops of 
the leading shoots die dow^n at all, they should be shortened 
dowm to the first strong eye, because, if a w^eak bud is 
left at the top, its growth will be slender for a long time. 
The grow^th of diflerent varieties of roses is very varied ; 
some make delicate shoots, and require little room, while 
others, like the Queen of the Prairies, are exceedingly ro- 
bust, and may require a larger pillar than the size we have 
mentioned. Figure 6 shows the method of constructing 
a pyramid by the use of a central post and iron rods. 



96 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



Climbing roses require very mucli the same treatment 
as pillar roses, and are frequently trained over arches, or 
in festoons from one i3illar to another. In these the weak 
branches should also be thinned out, and the strong ones 
be allowed to remain, Avithout being shortened, as in these 
an abundant bloom is wanted, rather than large flowers. 
An arbor, made by training roses from one pillar to 
another, is represented in figure 7. In training climbing 




Fig*. 7.— A ROSE ARBOR. 

roses over any flat surface, as a trellis, W' all, or side of a 
house, the principal point is so to place the leading 
shoots that all the intermediate space may be filled up 
Avith foliage. They can either be trained in fan-shape, 
with side shoots growing out from a main stem, or 
one leading shoot can be encouraged and trained in 
parallel horizontal lines to the top, care being taken to 
preserve suflicient intermediate space for the foliage. ^ 
Where no shoots are wanted, the buds can be rubbed ofiT 
before they push out. No Aveak shoots should be al- 
lowed to grow from the bottom, but all the strong ones 
should be allowed to groAV as much as they may. When 
the intermediate space is filled Avith young wood and fo- 



PRUNING, TRAINING, AND BEDDING. 



97 



liage, all the thin, small shoots should be cut out every 
year, and the strongest buds only allowed to remain, 
which, forming strong branches, will set closely to the 
wall and preserve a neat appearance. 

The |)roduction of roses out of season, by forcing, was, 
as we have shown, w^ell known to the ancient Romans, 
and from them has been handed down to the present time. 
But the retarding of roses by means of a regular process 
of pruning owes its origin to a comparatively modern 
date. This process is mentioned both by Lord Bacon and 
Sir Robert Boyle. The latter says : It is delivered by 
the Lord Verulam^ and other naturalists, that if a rose 
bush be carefully cut as soon as it is done bearing in the 
summer, it will again bear roses in the autumn. Of this, 
many have made unsuccessful trials, and thereupon report 
the affirmation to be false; yet I am very apt to think 
that my lord was encouraged by experience to write as 
he v'^ij. For, having been particularly solicitous about 
the experiment, I find by the relation, both of my own 
and other experienced gardeners, that this way of j^rocur- 
ing autumnal roses will, in most rose bushes, commonly 
fail, but succeed in some that are good bearers ; and, ac- 
cordingly, having this summer made trial of it, I find that 
of a row of bushes cut in June, by far the greater imm- 
ber promise no autumnal roses; but one that hath mani- 
fested itself to be of a vigorous and prolific nature is, at 
this present, indifferently w^ell stored with those of the 
damask kind. There may, also, be a mistake in the species 
of roses ; for experienced gardeners inform me that the 
Musk Rose will, if it be a lusty plant, bear flowers in au- 
tumn without cutting; and, therefore, that may unjustly 
be ascribed to art, which is the bare production of na- 
ture." Thus, in quaint and ancient style, discourses the 
wise and pious philosopher on our favorite flower, and 
also mentions the fact, that a red rose becomes white on 
being exposed to the fumes of sulphur. This, however^ 
5 



98 



PARSONS ON THE EOSE. 



had been observed before Sir Robert's time. Notwith- 
standing his doubts, it is now a well-established fact, that 
the blooming of roses may be retarded by cutting them 
back to two eyes after they have fairly commenced grow- 
inof, and the flower buds are discoverable. A constant 
succession can be obtained where there is a number of 
plants, by cutting each one back a shorter or longer dis- 
tance, or at various periods of its growth. In these cases, 
however, it very often will not bloom until autumn, be- 
cause the second effort to produce flowers is much great- 
er than the first, and is not attended with success until 
late in the season. 

However desirable may be this retarding process, it 
cannot be relied on as a general practice, because the very 
unusual exertion made to produce the flowers a second 
time, w^eakens the plant, and materially afiects its pros- 
perity the subsequent year. 

There is, indeed, but one kind of summer pruning that 
is advantageous, which is the thinning out of the flower- 
buds as soon as they appear, in order that the plant may 
be burdened with no more than it can fully perfect, and 
the cutting ofi* all the seed vessels after the flower has 
expanded and the petals have fallen. Until this last is 
done, a second bloom cannot readily be obtained from the 
Bengal Rose and its sub-classes, the Tea and Noisette, 
which otherwise grow and bloom constantly throughout 
the season. 

We would impress upon our readers the absolute, the 
essential, importance of cultivation — of constantly stir- 
ring the soil in which the Rose is planted; and we scarce- 
ly know of more comprehensive directions in a few words 
than the reply of an experienced horticulturist to one who 
asked the best mode of growing fine fruits and flowers. 
The old gentleman replied that the mode could be de- 
scribed in three words, " cultivate, cultivate, cultivate." 
After the same manner, we would impress the importance 



PRUNING, TRAINING, AND BEDDING. 



09 



of these three words upon all those who love well-grown 
and beautiful roses. They are, indeed, multum in parvo 
— the very essence of successful culture. The soil cannot 
be plowed, dug, or stirred too much ; it should be dug 
and hoed, not merely to keep down the weeds, but to en- 
sure the health and prosperity of the plant. Cultivation 
is to all plants and trees manure, sun, and rain. It opens 
the soil to the nutrition it may receive from the atmosphere, 
to the beneficial influence of light, and to the morning and 
evening dew. It makes the heavy soil light, and the light 
soil heavy ; if the earth is saturated with rain, it dries it ; 
if burned up with drought, it moistens it. Watering is 
often beneficial, and is particularly so to roses just before 
and during the period of bloom ; but in an extremely dry 
season, if we were obliged to choose between the water- 
ing-pot and the spade, we should most unhesitatingly give 
the preference to the latter. 

We do not wish, however, to undervalue the benefits 
of water. If tlie plants are well mulched with straw, 
salt hay, or any other litter, frequent watering is very 
beneficial. When not mulched, tlie watering should al- 
ways be followed by the hoe, in order to destroy the bak- 
ing of the surface. While the plants are in a growing 
state, liquid manure will give a larger and a finer bloom. 
This liquid manure may be made with soapsuds, or the 
refuse from the house. When these are not easily ob- 
tained, half a bushel of cow or horse dung can be placed 
in a barrel, which can then be filled with water, well 
stirred up, and allowed to settle a day or two before being 
used. 

For those who are willing to incur the expense, a very 
nice way of applying pure Avater is to sink ordinary tile, 
two inches in diameter, with collars, about a foot below 
the surface, around and through the rose bed. An elbow 
from this, coming to the surface, can convey the water 
into the pipes, through the ioints of which it will escape, 



100 



PARSOI^'S OX THE ROSE. 



and thus irrigate tlio vrhole ground, ^yithout baking the 
surface. 

BEDDIInG eoses. 

While Remontant, Moss, and Garden Roses are adapted 
to the wants of much the larger number of growers, be- 
cause they require no protection in winter, and are strong 
and robust in their growth and habit, yet the everbloom- 
ing varieties are becoming daily more popular. While 
but few of the Remontants have more than two seasons 
of distinct and abundant bloom, the Teas, Chinas, and 
Noisettes, bloom constantly and continuously. In grace, 
and color, and beauty, these last have more varied charms 
than the more hardy and abundant Remontants, and the 
difficulty of caring for them in the winter, even by those 
who have no glass, is compensated by the additional pleas- 
ure they give in the summer. Those who have glass can 
enjoy them winter and summer alike. Their superiority 
in constant blooming, especially, adapts them for planting 
in masses or beds scattered about the lawn. These beds 
can be each of one color, or they can be assorted, or can 
be planted in the ribbon style, rows of white, or red, or 
yellow alternating. ISTo bedding flowers, Verbenas, Sal- 
vias, or any other plant, will give so constant pleasure as 
Roses. They can be purchased, also, nearly as cheaply as 
ordinary bedding plants, and are found in several places 
as low as $15 per 100, or $100 per 1,000. On being taken 
out of the pots they will grow rapidly, and bloom after 
they are thoroughly established, and afterward, year after 
year, they will commence blooming early, and continue . 
until frost. A bed made in any part of the lawn, and in 
any soil, will grow them w^ell, provided it has a dry bot- 
tom, and has some well-decomposed manure dug in it. A 
light, sandy soil will grow them in the greatest perfection. 
They can be planted eighteen inches to two feet apart, 



PRUNING, TRAINING, AND BEDDING. 



101 



and the new shoots, as soon as they have attained suffi- 
cient length, should be pegged down, so as to cover the 
whole ground. The branches thus laid down will give 
abundant flowers throughout their whole length, and from 
each bud a strong-rooted shoot will be thrown up, and 
being pruned down close in the autumn, will be ready to 
produce a strong and bearing shoot another year. If 
they become too close and crowded, the new shoots can 
be partially cut away. ISTorth of Baltimore, these Roses 
will need protection in the winter. This can be done by 
covering the bed with sand, several inches deep, or by 
taking up the plants, cutting them down, heeling them in 
in a dry cellar, or potting them for a green-house. 



102 



PARSONS OX THE KOSE. 



CHAPTER VI. 
POTTING AND FORCING. 

Seek Roses in December, ice in June."— Btron. 

Every variety of Rose, in the hands of a skillful man, 
will grow and bloom well in pots, although the Bengal 
and its sub-classes, and the more dwarf Hardy Roses, are 
the most easily managed. The great point in potting is 
to imitate planting in the open ground as nearly as possi- 
ble. The soil used should possess all the nutritious ele- 
ments required in the open ground, and, if possible, in 
somewhat greater abundance. More manure should be 
used, because the frequent watering required by plants in 
pots must inevitably wash away a jDortion of the fertiliz- 
ing matter. There is nothing better than one portion of 
stable manure, and three of turf, or leaf-mould, all well 
decomposed, and mixed with a little pure peat earth. A 
portion of night-soil, well incorporated with charcoal, is 
also very excellent. Charcoal is the most powerful ab- 
sorbent known ; it retains the nutritious elements in the 
night-soil, prevents their being washed away by watering, 
and gives them out as the plant needs them. English 
gardeners should bear in mind that roses require in this 
climate a stronger soil than in England. Half-gallon pots 
are the best size at first, from which, by repeated pottings, 
corresponding with the growth of the plant, they can be 
shifted to one or two-gallon pots. The size of the pots 
should, however, be regulated by the extent of the roots ; 
it should be just sufficiently large to allow the roots to go 
in without crowding. A few broken pieces of pots or 
small lumps should be put in the bottom for drainage. 
"When the plant is to be taken from the open ground, se- 



POTTING AND FORCING. 



103 



lect one, the roots of which are not too large, and with a 
sharp spade cut around it a ball of earth about the size 
of the pot, depriving it at the same time of a portion of 
its top, as directed in remarks on pruning. It should 
stand in this state about a fortnight, until the roots have 
"become callused, and the plant is somewhat accustomed 
to the loss of its roots and branches. It can then be 
safely taken up at any season, and transferred to the pot, 
which should then be filled in with earth, firm and solid. 
If potted in the autumn, after the leaves have fallen and 
the wood become mature, the above previous preparation 
is not required, but the plant can be taken up without a 
ball of earth, and after being pruned of its bruised or 
broken roots, placed in the pot. It should then be pro- 
tected from the frost and light until it has entirely recov- 
ered from its change of habitation, Avhen it can be placed 
in any cool spot free from frost, until it is wanted for 
forcino^. 

Roses may, without difiiculty, by the above previous 
management, be forced to bloom in the latter part of Avin- 
ter, but where their bloom is desired at Christmas or 
New-Year, they should be gradually prepared for the 
space of a year previous. To produce roses the latter 
part of winter, our own management has been simple and 
effective, giving us as many flowers as a green-house and 
vinery full of pots could aff"ord. After putting the plants 
in pots, as directed above, pruning them down to eight 
or ten buds, and hardening them in a shady place, they 
are removed to the vinery before the frost out of doors can 
have injured them, and cut down to two buds. The 
house is then kept as cool as possible, while the frost is 
carefully excluded by a light fire at night, and on fine 
days the sashes are opened, and plenty of air admitted. 
They are thus kept in a dormant state until the first of 
the year, when the heat is gradually increased to about 
70° by day, sinking as low as 35° at night. Care is 



104 



PAESO^'S OX THE KOSE. 



taken to give them sufficient watering, and in their whole 
management to subject them as nearly as possible to the 
conditions of open culture. When the green-fly appears, 
it is immediately destroyed by fumigation with tobacco, 
and the plants are subsequently syringed with clean wa- 
ter. With this management, they soon begin to show 
signs of life, the bud commences pushing forth its deli- 
cate, light green shoot, the leaves then appear, the plant, 
soon growing with luxuriance, is clothed with rich foli- 
age, and about the middle of the third month, the house 
presents a mass of thrifty growth and perfect bloom. 

By the means above described, roses may be forced 
into bloom the latter -pavt of winter ; and by observing 
some care to bring them into the house at different peri- 
ods, in regular succession, a bloom can be enjoyed through 
all the spring months, until roses bloom in the open 
ground. This process cannot, however, be continued two 
years in succession without weakening the plant ; and al- 
though, if placed in a shady spot,. and allowed to rest 
during the summer, it may sufficiently recover to perform 
the same work another year, it is desirable, if possible, 
to have fresh plants, whose strength has not been exhaust- 
ed by the unusual effort attending the production of flow- 
ers out of season. 

The preceding directions apply more particularly to 
late forcing ; and although the same means, with an earli- 
er application of heat, will produce flowers early in winter, 
yet the true art of early forcing consists in gradually 
bringing the Rose out of its season; and it is only by this 
mode that thrifty j^lants and perfect flowers can be pro- 
duced before Christmas. 

Two years, and sometimes three, should be employed in 
preparing a Rose for early forcing. Having been prepared 
by digging around it with a sharp spade some two weeks 
previously, the plant should be taken up immediately 
after the first frost, placed in a cold frame a few days, to 



POTTING AND FORCING. 105 



harden, and then taken to the green-house or vinery. A 
moderate heat should then be given it, with plenty of 
light and air to prevent its 'being drawn. The flower- 
buds should be plucked off as soon as they aj^pear, and no 
bloom should be allowed. It will thus make fine growths, 
and can be plunged in the open ground as soon as danger 
of frost has passed in the spring. Here it can remain 
during the summ.er, to ripen its wood, and will require no 
care except a little watering in dry weather, and an occa- 
sional taking up and examination, that the roots may not 
push through the hole of the pot, and become fixed in the 
ground, in which case the plants would make too strong 
a growth, and suffer on being removed from the new- 
made root. In October it can be placed in a pot one size 
larger, pruned by thinning out all the weak branches, and 
shortening the strong ones down to two eyes. It should 
then go through the same process as before, carefully 
picking off all the flower-buds, promoting its growth 
until completed, when let it be put in a cold frame until 
all danger of frost is over, and then plunge it in the 
ground to ripen its wood. As its vegetation was started 
a month earlier the last year, it can now be taken up in 
September, repotted and pruned as before, and then taken 
into the green-house. The temperature should then be 
gradually raised to about 55° until the plant has commenced 
growing, and then gradually increased to 65° or 70°, giv- 
ing as much air as can be obtained without lowering the 
temperature. 

All useless shoots should be kept down, and all the 
flower-buds taken off that threaten to be abortive. In 
fumigating for the green-fly, care should be taken not to 
do it too strongly, but repeated and gentle doses at night 
are better. We have known many fine plants ruined by 
fumigation in the hands of an inexperienced person. A 
good bloom can be obtained the second year by this mode ; 
but if the amateur has the patience to w^ait until a third, 
5* 



106 



PAESO^'S OX THE EOSE. 



he will be rewarded by a thrifty and compact habit, rich 
foliage, and beautiful bloom for two months before Christ- 
mas ; and if there are a number of jDlants to be brought 
into the green-house a week after each other, he can have 
them in bloom until the late forced roses appear. At all 
periods subsequent to their commencement, care should 
be taken to give them sufficient moisture, and as much air 
as is consistent with the state of growth and the external 
temperature. "Without water, they will neither grow nor 
bloom well. Under glass, every other day, and in some 
cases, twice a week is sufficient. 

The great principle to be bonie in mind in forcing roses 
is, that sudden excitement is fatal, and that a plant should 
never be taken from the open ground into a heated house 
without being gradually prepared for it. This principle 
is particularly applicable to deciduous roses. The Re- 
montant and Bourbon, the Bengal and its sub-classes, 
which grow and bloom through the whole year, are not 
so liable to be injured by exciting treatment. 

• Cuttings of these that are struck in the spring and 
planted out in the open ground may have their tops 
slightly i^runed, and their buds all pinched off during the 
summer, to encourage the formation of wood and of a 
close head. 

About the last days of summer, or the first of autumn, 
they can be taken up and placed in quart pots, with a soil 
composed of one half loam, one quarter cow-dung, and 
one quarter peat. After being slightly pruned, and left 
in the shade for a week, they can be placed in frames, 
protected at night from frost, and exposed to the air in 
mild weather for some two months, when they can be re- 
moved, a few at a time, into the green-house, and subject- 
ed to a moderately increased temperature. They will 
soon bloom well, and will succeed each other throughout 
the winter and spring, until roses bloom in the open air. 
Like the deciduous roses, they require to be protected 



POTTING AND FORCING. 



lor 



against the green-fly by syringing, and if that does not 
answer, by fumigation with tobacco. 

The Bengal, however, like the deciduous roses, will 
bloom better the second winter than the first, by shifting 
them into larger pots, pruning them, cutting off all the 
flower-buds, and giving them very little water the latter 
part of summer. They can then be put into the frames, 
and treated as before. The Bengal Rose is very easily 
forced in this way ; and if the temperature is at first kept 
during the day at 45°, and gradually increased to 60°, 
there can be little difiiculty in obtaining beautiful and 
healthy plants. This temperature can be obtained in any 
green-house or vinery. The latter is becoming more 
common, and when it is provided with heating appa- 
ratus, there can be nothing better for roses. We have 
forced them very successfully in one of our own vineries, 
one hundred and twenty feet long, twelve feet wide, ten 
feet high in the rear, three and a half in front, and heat- 
ed by hot water. But as there may be many who desire 
a cheaper structure, we will give the description of one 
used by Rivers, (the best rose-grower known), with his 
mode of managing roses in a structure of that character. 

A pit, ten or twelve feet long, and eight feet wide, just 
high enough to stand upright in, w^ith a door at one end, 
and a sunken path in the centre, a raised bed on each side 
of the path, and an 18-inch Arnott's stove at the farther 
end, opposite to the door, with a pipe leading into a small 
brick chimney outside, (a chimney is indispensable), will 
give a great abundance of forced roses from February to 
the end of May. To ensure this, a supply must be kept 
ready, so that, say twenty may be placed in the forcing - 
pit about the middle of December, a like number in the 
middle of January, and the same about the middle of 
February ; they must not be pruned till taken into the 
house, when each shoot should be cut back to two or three 
buds for the formation of strong shoots. The fire should 



108 



PAESOKS ON THE EOSE. 



be lighted at seven in tlie morning, and suffered to burn 
out about the same hour in the evening, unless in frosty 
weather, when it must be kept burning till late at night, 
so as to exclude the frost ; and for this purpose, double 
mats should be ^^laced on the lights. The thermometer 
should not, fire lieat^ be higher in the day than 70"" 
during December, January, and February ; at night it may 
sink to 35° without injury. The temporary rise in a sun- 
ny day is of no consequence, but no air must he admitted 
at such times ^ or the plants icill exhaust themselves^ and 
imm.ediately shed their leaves. When the sun begins to 
have power, and in sunny weather, toward the end of 
February, the plants may be syringed every morning 
about 10 o'clock with tepid water, and smoked with to- 
bacco at night on the least appearance of the Aphis, or 
green-fly. To ensure a fine and full crop of flowers, the 
plants should be established one year in pots, and plunged 
in tan or sawdust, in an open, exposed place, that their 
shoots may be well ripened ; the pots must be often re- 
moved, or, what is better, place the pots on slates, to pre- 
vent their roots striking into the ground. With the Re- 
montant or Perpetuals, even if only potted in N'ovember 
l^revious, a very good crop of flowers may often be ob- 
tained, and a second crop better than the first ; for the 
great advantage of forcing Remontant roses is, that after 
blooming in the green-house or drawing-room, their young 
shoots may be cut down to within two or three buds of 
their base, and the plants placed again in the forcing- 
house, and a second crop of flowers obtained. The same 
mode may be followed also with the Bourbon, China, and 
Tea-scented roses ; with the latter, indeed, a third croj) 
may be often obtained. Toward the end of March, when 
the second crop of flowers is coming on, the plants may 
be gradually inured to the air, by opening the sashes in 
mild weather. This will make them hardy and robust. 
Syringing should be practiced every morning and even- 



POTTING A^D FORCING. 



109 



ing ; but when the flower-buds arc ready to open, this 
must be confined to the stems of the plants and the pots ; 
otherwise the flowers will be injured by the moisture. 
Air must at first only be given about noon ; care must be 
taken to remove the 23lants from the forcing-house to the 
green-house or drawing-room before their blossoms ex- 
pand ; they may then be kept in beauty many days. We 
have not found the check which the plants receive by this 
sudden change of temperature at all detrimental. During 
their second growth, the plants should be watered once a 
week with manure-Avater, and the surface of the pot occa- 
sionally stirred. Two pounds of guano to ten gallons of 
water forms the very best species of liquid manure ; this 
should be stirred before it is used. 

" The treatment recommended for roses in a pit v/itli 
Arnott's stove may be pursued with roses in a house with 
smoke-flues or hot-water pipes. Arnott's stove is recom- 
mended as an economical and eligible mode of heating, 
practiced here to some extent with success for several 
years. On these stoves an iron pan, fitted to the top, 
should always be kept full of water. Roses may be 
forced slowly, but witli perhaps greater certainty by the 
uninitiated, by giving air freely and constantly in mild 
weather during the day, keeping the fire constantly burn- 
ing during the same period, as recommended when keep- 
ing them closely shut up." 

We have copied tlie whole of this article, although in 
a measure a repetition of previous remarks, since it may 
be interesting to some to know the opinion of so eminent 
a cultivator on this least understood branch of rose cul- 
ture. A few of his directions are somewhat diflerent from 
those we have given before, and may be far better than 
our own plan, in the climate of England. Here, an 
Arnott's stove would scarcely heat a pit to 70"" Avith the 
thermometer at zero ; and if it should, we would think it 
rather dangerous to give so high a temperature at once. 



110 



PARSOXS OX THE EOSE. 



The strength of guano is also so varied, that we should 
feel very cautious in using it according to the above re- 
ceipt. While, however, we would not venture to ques- 
tion the general utility of his directions, we may perhaps 
say, that we have found our own plan effective in its re- 
sults, and productive of thrifty plants and beautiful flow- 
ers. "We would advise cultivators to test them both, and 
adopt that which succeeds best in their hands. A 'pit of 
the above description can be constructed at a very low 
price, and should be found on the premises of every gen- 
tleman of even very moderate income, for the supply of 
his parlors during winter. If, in addition to this, there 
were constructed on the east side of the house, and facing 
south, a little room with a glass front and roof, opening 
into the parlor, and heated either by a valve from the 
house furnace, or by a water-back connected with the 
parlor grate, more enjoyment would be afforded the lover 
of flowers than could be obtained by any other outlay of 
two hundred dollars. This room could then be kept con- 
stantly filled with roses from the pit, and through the 
most dreary winter, amid rain, snow, and storm, would 
present a bright array of the living reminders of spring 
and summer. It is a matter of much surprise, that, 
among all the beautiful country residences in the vicinity 
of our large cities, surrounded by all the appliances of 
luxury and comfort that taste and wealth can afford, so 
fcAV instances are found in which the drawing-room or 
parlor opens into a green-house or conservatory. These 
buildings are frequently placed at a distance from the 
house, and although they may be filled with the most 
beautiful and rare exotics, are, during the greater part of 
the winter, inaccessible to the ladies of the family. 

Let gentlemen of wealth, then, place their vineries any- 
where, but use them as forcing-houses when the vines are 
in a dormant state. Let them also have a green-house 
or conservatory opening from the drawing-room, into 



POTTIXG AND FORCING. 



Ill 



which all the plants can be brought from the vinery 
whenever they show signs of bloom. This conserva- 
tory can be heated by hot water, flowing through iron 
pipes from a boiler placed over the furnace that warms 
the drawing-room — taking from this very little heat, and 
yet abundantly warming the conservatory. An improve- 
ment could still farther be made, by having the east end 
of the conservatory arch over a carriage drive, and thus 
allow visitors to enter the drawing-room through the con- 
servatory. Exclusive of the delight afforded visitors by 
this very pleasant addition to a dwelling, it affords a de- 
lightful promenade for the ladies of the family, where, 
while all is wintry without, and walking is unpleasant, 
even when the ice-bound trees are glittering in the clear 
sunlight, they may luxuriate amid roses and jasmines, 
breathing air fragrant with the perfume of daphne and 
orange flowers, and surrounded with everything that can 
remind them of the beauty and bland climate of the sunny 
south. 

We have occupied so much space with the peculiarities 
of culture for the forcing-house, that we had almost for- 
gotten that more humble, but no less pleasure-giving 
mode of Window culture. As this culture is practiced 
chiefly by those who cannot spare the time nor incur the 
expense of previous preparation, the best mode is that 
given for late forcing of roses, taken up the autumn pre- 
vious, placing the plants in pots seven inches in diameter, 
and using a soil composed of equal parts of sand, loam, 
and manure, or peat, loam, and manure. They can be 
watered with manure-water every fortnight, made from 
the drippings of the barn-yard, or, what is more pleasant, 
a safely weak solution of guano, about one pound to fif- 
teen gallons. 

The plants should be brought into the heat gradually ; 
first into a cold room where there is no frost, and then ~ 
into the sitting-room, where they can be placed in the 



112 



PARSO^^S OX THE ROSE. 



window, and turned around every week, in order to give 
each side of the plant its share of light. They will soon 
begin to put forth their thrifty shoots, in some six weeks 
will present a fine show of beautiful flowers, and, if prop- 
erly managed, will continue blooming through the winter. 
If attacked by the green-fly, the plant can be inverted in 
a strong decoction of tobacco, or it can be fumigated by 
being placed under an inverted barrel, or other re- 
ceptacle, with some burning tobacco. For window cul- 
ture, the Everblooming Roses are the best, and they 
should be ordered of the nurseryman in suitable pots. 
This mode commends itself to all ; it is within the reach 
of the daily laborer ; the seamstress can have it in her 
window, and in the midst of her toilsome duties, be re- 
minded by its bright flowers of many a green spot in 
past days. It is especially suited to the means and leisure 
of the operatives in our factories, many of whom have 
left the country and all its green fields and pleasant flow- 
ers for the crowded city, where they can have no garden, 
but simply this little pot to remind them of past pleasures, 
and throw a Heam of sunshine over their hours of relief 
from labor. The plant can be placed in their chamber 
window, or in the windows of the factory, where the high 
temperature, if it has been brought from the chamber, 
will soon bring out its foliage in great luxuriance, and its 
floAvers in beauty, and be a pleasant object of care in the 
moments snatched from the operations of the loom. To 
this class we would especially commend the Rose ; as 
thriving under simjDle treatment, as possessing, more than 
any other flower, the elements of beauty, and tending, 
like other flowers, to keep alive in a crowded city that 
freshness and purity of feeling that distinguished their 
country life, and which, unless there exists an unusnal 
perversion of the moral faculties, must always result 
from an intimate acquaintance with natural objects. 



PROPAGATIOIS' OF THE ROSE. 



113 



CHAPTER VII. 
PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE. 

CUTTIXGS. 

This mode of propagation, although possible with all 
roses, is more difficult with those that bloom only once in 
the season. It is most applicable to the smooth-wooded 
kinds, as the Bengal and its sub-classes, and the Bour- 
sault, Microphylla, rubifolia, etc. Many of the Perpetuals 
and Bourbons are propagated with facility by the same 
mode. For propagation in the oj)en ground, cuttings 
should be made in the autumn, or early part of winter. 
They should be made of wood of the growth of the sea- 
son, -and about six inches long. The lower end should be 
cut square, close to a bud, and they can then be planted 
thickly, two-thirds of their length in sand, in a light and 
dry cellar. Here a callus will be formed on the bottom 
of each cutting during the winter, and on being planted 
out in the spring, they will immediately throw out roots. 
They should be planted as early as possible in the spring, 
in a light sandy loam, with one-third of their length and 
at least one bud above the surface of the ground. They 
should be planted very early in the spring, because, if left 
until late, the power of the sun is too much for them. 
The earth should be trodden down very tight about them, 
in order, as much as possible, to exclude the air. If the 
weather is dry, they should be carefully watered in the 
evening. Where it is inconvenient to make the cuttings 
in the fall or early in the winter, they can be made in the 
spring ; but in consequence of having to form the callus, 
they will require a much lighter soil than will afterward 
be desirable for their growth, and they will also be much 



114 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



later in coming on. This mode of open propagation an- 
swers very well for some of the smooth-wooded roses of 
the more robust growing varieties, like the Boursault and 
Rubifolia ; but for the delicate Bengals, the best mode is 
pot propagation. For this purpose, small pots can be 
used, filled with equal parts of mould and sand, or peat 
and sand. About the middle of autumn, cuttings of the 
same season's growth 
are taken off with two 
to four buds, cutting 
off one or two of the 
lower leaves, and cutting 
off the wood smooth 
and square close to 
the eye, as in figure 8. 
These cuttings can be 
inserted in the pot, leav- 
ing one eye above the 
surface. It should then 
be slightly watered to 
settle the soil firmly 
around the cutfengs, and 
then placed in a cold Fig. 8.-a rose cutting. 

frame, or on the floor of a vinery, in which no fire is 
kept during winter. Early in the spring the pot should 
be placed in a house with a moderate temperature, kept 
perfectly close, and sprinkled every morning with water 
a little tepid. Now, as well as during the autumn, they 
should be shaded from the too bright glare of the sun. 
In about a fortnight, and after they have formed a third 
set of leaves and good roots, a little air can be given 
them ; and after being thus hardened for a week, they can 
be repotted into larger pots. In order to ascertain when 
they are sufficiently rooted, the ball of earth can be taken 
out of the pot, by striking its inverted edge lightly against 
some body, at the same time sustaining the ball of earth 




PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE. 



115 



by the hand, the cutting being passed between two of the 
fingers a little separated. If well rooted, the fibres will 
be seen on the outside of the ball of earth. They can 
then be placed in a cold frame, or anywhere under glass, 
to be planted out the latter paj-t of spring, or retained 
for pot culture. Where hot-bed frames are not conven- 
ient, or the amateur Welshes only to experiment wdth one 
or two cuttings, he can use a tumbler, or any kind of 
close glass covering. 

Where roses are forced into bloom the latter j^art of 
winter, cuttings can be taken from them immediately after 
the bloom is past ; and they will also succeed if taken 
from plants in the open ground immediately after their 
first bloom. Cuttings of the Everblooming Roses will 
all strike at any time during the summer, but they suc- 
ceed much better either in the autumn, or after their first 
bloom. The heat of our midsummer sun is so great upon 
plants forced in the house, that xjuttings often fail at that 
time. When a cutting is made near the old stem, it is 
better to take with it a portion of the old wood, which 
forms the enlarged part of the young branch. Where the 
cuttings are scarce, two buds will answer very well — one 
below the surface ; and, in some cases, propagation has 
been successful with only one eye. In this case they are 
planted up to the base of the leaf in pots of sand, similar 
to that used in the manufacture of glass, and the eye is 
partially covered. They are then subject to the same 
treatment as the others, and carefully shaded ; they wall 
thus root easily, but require a long time to make strong 
plants. 

Some years since, Lecoq, a French cultivator, conceived 
the idea of endeavoring to propagate roses by the leaf. 
He gathered some very young leaves of the Bengal rose, 
about one quarter developed, cutting them ofi" at their 
insertion, or at the surface of the bark. He planted these 
in peat soil, in one-inch pots, and then plunged the pots 



116 



PARSOIS'S OK THE ROSE. 



into a moderate heat. A double cover of bell glasses 
was then placed over them, to exclude the air entirely, 
which course of treatment was pursued until they had 
taken root. The shortest time in which 
this could be accomplished was eight 
weeks, and the roots were formed in the 
following manner. First, a callus was 
formed at the base of the leaf, from which 
small fibres put forth ; a small bud then 
appeared on the upper side (figure 9) ; a 
stalk then arose from this bud, which 
finally expanded into leaves and formed 
a perfect plant. 

An English writer remarks, that the 
leaves or leaflets of a rose will often take 
root more freely than even cuttings, and 
in a much shorter time, but these uni- 
formly refuse to make buds or grow." 

This experiment is certainly very curi- 
ous, and evinces how great, in the vege- 
table kingdom, are the powers of nature for the main- 
tenance of existence, and is one of those singular results 
which should lead us to make farther experiments with 
various parts of plants, and teach us that in Horticulture 
there is yet a wide field for scientific research. 

A favorite mode of propagation with some nurserymen 
is from soft wood of plants forced in the winter. Many 
fail entirely in this for want of knowledge of the right 
condition in which the wood should be before cutting, a 
condition which cannot be described on paper. Some va- 
rieties, like Persian Yellow, will not strike at all, or with 
great difiiculty in this way. 

The plants from which these cuttings are to be taken 
should be prepared and treated as in the preceding chap- 
ter. In February and March the cuttings are made and 
inserted in sand, either in pots or benches, in a house of 




Fili'. 9.— LEAF 
CUTTI^^G. 



PROPAGATION OF THE KOSE. 



117 



the same temperature as that in which the parent plant 
has grown. These pots or benches would be better cov- 
ered with glass, but it is not essential. After the cuttings 
have rooted, they can be potted into small pots, and 
placed in a house of moderate temperature. About the 
middle of May they can be taken out of these pots and 
planted in the open ground. 

BY LAYEES. 



This mode is more particularly applicable to those roses 
that bloom only once in the year, and which do not strike 
freely from cuttings, although it can be equally well ap- 
plied to all the smooth-wooded kinds. It can be perform- 
ed at midsummer and for several weeks afterward, and 
should be employed only in those cases where young 
shoots have been formed at least a foot long and are well 
matured. The soil should be well dug around the plant, 
forming a little raised bed of some three feet in diameter, 
with the soil well pulverized and mixed with some manure 
thoroughly decomposed, and, if heavy, a little sand. A 
hole should then be made in this bed about four inches 
deep, and the young matured shoot bent down into it, 
keeping the top of the shoot some three or four inches 
above the surface of the ground ; the angle thus being 
found, which should always be made at a bud and about 
five or six inches from the top of the shoot, the operator 
should cut ofi* all the leaves below the ground. A sharp 
knife should then be placed just below a bud, about three 
inches below the surface of the ground, and a slanting cut 
made upward and lengthwise, about half through the 
branch, forming a sort of tongue from one to two inches 
long, on the back part of the shoot right opposite the bud ; 
a chip or some of the soil can be placed in the slit, to pre- 
vent it from closing, and the shoot can then be carefully 
laid in the hole, and pegged down at a point some two 



118 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



inches below the cut, keeping, at the same time, the top 
of the shoot some three or four inches out of the ground, 
and making it fast to a small stake, to keep it upright. 
Care should be taken not to make the angle where the 
branch is pegged at the cut, as the branch Avould be in- 
jured and perhaps broken off; the best place is about two 
inches below the incision. The soil can then be replaced 
in the hole, and where it is convenient covered with some 
moss or litter of any kind. This will protect the soil 
from the sun and keep it moist, and will materially aid 
the formation of new roots. These are formed in the same 
manner as in cuttings ; first a callus is produced on those 
parts of the incision where the bark joins the wood, and 
from this callus spring the roots, which, in some cases, 
will have grown sufficiently for the layers to be taken 
from the parent plant the latter part of the following au- 
tumn ; in some cases, however, the roots will not have 
sufficiently formed to allow them to be taken up before 
another year. The summer is the best period for layering 
the young shoots. Early in the sjDring, layers can be 
made with the wood formed the previous year. Where 
it is more convenient, a shoot can be rooted by making 
the incision as above, and introducing it into a quart pot 
with the bottom partly broken out. This pot can be 
plunged in the ground, or if the branch is from a stand- 
ard, it can be raised on a rough platform. In either case, 
it should be covered with moss, to protect it from the sun, 
and should be watered every evening. We recollect see- 
ing in the glass manufactories of Paris, a very neat little 
glass tumbler, used by the French gardeners for this pur- 
pose. It held, perhaps, half a pint, and a space about 
half an inch wide was cut out through the whole length 
of the side, through which space the branch of any plant 
was inserted, and the tumbler then filled with soil. When 
the roots were formed and began to penetrate the soil, 
they could be easily perceived through the glass. Al- 



PEOPAGATIOX OF THE ROSE. 



119 



though fin incision is always the most certain, and it is 
uniformly practiced, roots will in many varieties strike 
easily from the buds ; and a common operation in France 
is simply to peg down the branches in the soil, without 
any incision ; in some cases, they give the branch a sudden 
twist, which will break or bruise the bark, and facilitate 
the formation of roots. 

Some Chinese authors state that very long branches 
may be laid down, and that roots may be thus obtained 
from all the eyes upon them, which Vvdll eventually form 
as many j^lants. 

Vibert, a well-known rose cultivator in France, remarks 
upon this point : " Upon laying down with the requisite 
care some branches fifteen to twenty-four inches long, of 
the new growth, or of tliat of the previous year, and up- 
on taking them up with similar care, after twelve or 
eighteen months, I found only the first eyes expanded into 
buds or roots, while the rest had perished. I have seldom 
seen the fifth eye developed, while I have frequently 
known the whole branch entirely perish. I speak in gen- 
eral terms, for there are some rare exceptions, and the 
difierent varieties of the Four-seasons Rose may be cited 
as proof that a great number of eyes of the same branch 
have taken root." 

This is the opinion of an eminent rose grower ; but if, 
as he states, the Monthly Damask Rose will root freely in 
this way, many of the smooth-wooded roses Avould un- 
doubtedly root still more readily, and our rapid growing 
native rose, Queen of the Prairies, would very probably 
throw out roots readily, when treated in this manner. It 
is worth repeated experiment ; for, if rapid growing roses, 
like some of the evergreen varieties, the Greville, and the 
Queen of the Prairies, could with facility be made to grow 
in this way, rose hedges could be easily formed by laying 
down whole branches, and a very beautiful and effective 



120 



PARSOi^S OK THE ROSE. 



protection would be thus produced, to ornament our fields 
and gardens. 

SUCKERS. 

Many roses throw up suckers readily from the root, and 
often form one of the principal causes of annoyance to the 
cultivator. For this reason, budding and grafting should 
always be done on stocks that do not incline to sucker. 
The Dog Rose — on which almost all the imported varieties 
are now worked — is particularly liable to this objection, 
and it is no unusual thing to see half-a-dozen suckers 
growing about a single rose-tree. When the health and 
j)rosperity of the plant are desired, these should be care- 
fully kept down, as they deprive the plant of a material 
jDortion of its nourishment. When, however, they are 
wanted for stocks, they should be taken off every spring 
with a small portion of root, which can generally be ob- 
tained by cutting some distance below the surface of tbe 
ground. They should be j)lanted immediately where they 
are wanted for budding, and will soon be fit for use. 
Many fine varieties of the summer roses will sucker in this 
way, and an old plant Avhen taken up will sometimes fur- 
nish a large number of thrifty stems, each with a portion 
of root attached. 

BUDDIKG. 

Fifty years ago, budding and grafting were very little 
practiced, excepting with new varieties, that could with 
great difiiculty be j)ropagated in any other way. Within 
that time, however, the practice has been constantly in- 
creasing imtil now, when it is extensively employed in 
Europe, and roses imported from France and England can 
very rarely be obtained on their own roots. To this mode 
of propagation, there is one great objection, while the ad- 



PROPAGATION OF THE BOSE. 



121 



vantages in some varieties are sufficiently great to coun- 
terbalance any inconveniences attending the cultivation of 
a budded or grafted rose. It is generally the case, that 
the stock or jylsLut on Tv^hich the Rose is budded is of 
some variety that will throw up suckers very freely, which 
growing with great luxuriance, will sometimes overpower 
the variety budded upon it, and present a mass of its own 
flowers. The purchaser will thus find a comparatively 
worthless bloom, instead of the rare and beautiful varieties 
whose appearance he has been eagerly awaiting, and upon 
the head of the nurseryman will frequently descend the 
w^eight of his indignation. This difficulty can, however, be 
avoided by a very little attention. The shoot of the stock 
can very readily be distinguished from that of the budded or 
grafted variety by its growth and foliage, even if the age 
of the plant will not allow the point of inoculation to be 
recognized. In passing the plant in his walks, let the 
owner simply cut away any shoot of this character that 
may spring from the stock or root. The budded variety 
thus receiving all the nourishment from the root, will soon 
grow with luxuriance, and present to the eager expectant 
as fine a bloom as he may desire — at the expense only of 
a little observation, and the trouble of occasionally taking 
his knife from his pocket. 

This trouble, however, is such that the -plsmt is in most 
cases neglected. Budded or grafted roses are thus very 
unpopular in this country, and those on their own roots 
are deemed the only ones which it is safe to plant. 

The practice of budding has brought into cultivation a 
form of the plant which is highly ornamental, but which 
can never become very general in this country. The Tree 
Rose is an inoculation upon a standard some four or five 
feet in height, generally a Dog Rose or Eglantine. The 
tall, naked stem, a greater part of which is unsheltered 
by any foliage, is exposed to the full glare of our summer 
^un, and unless protected in some way, will often die ou^ 



122 



PARSOI^^S OlSr THE ROSE. 



in two or three years. Its life can be prolonged by cov- 
ering the stem with moss, or Avith a sort of tm tube, pro- 
vided with small holes, to allow the air to enter and cir- 
culate around the stem. This is, however, some trouble ; 
and as many will not provide this protection, a large part 
of the standard roses imported to this country will grad- 
ually die out, and rose hushes be generally employed for 
single planting, or for grouping upon the lawn. 

In budding, there are two requisites : a well-established 
and thriftily growing j^lant, and a well-matured eye or 
bud. The operation can be performed at any season when 
these requisites can be obtained. In the open ground, the 
wood from which the buds are cut is generally not mature 
until after the first summer bloom. 

Having ascertained by running a knife under the bark, 

that the stock will 
peel easily, and having 
some perfectly ^ ripe 
young shoots with 
buds upon them, the 
operation can be per- 
formed Avith a sharp 
knife that is round and 
very thin at the point. 
Make in the bark of 
the stock a longitudi- 
nal incision of three- 
quarters of an inch, 
and another short one 
across the top, as in 
fig. 10; run the knife 
under the bark and 
loosen it from the 
wood; then cut from 
one of the young shoots of the desired variety, a bud, as 
in b / placing the knife a quarter to three-eighths of an 




Fig. 10.— BUDDING THE ROSE. 



peopagatiojS" of the eose. 



123 



inch above the eye or bud, and cutting out about the same 
distance below it, cutting sufficiently near the bud to take 
with it a very thin scale of the wood. English gardeners 
will always peel off this thin scale ; but in our hot cli- 
mate, it should always be left on, as it assists to keep the 
bud moist, and does not at all prevent the access of the 
sap from the stock to the bud. The bud being thus pre- 
l^ared, take it, by the portion of leaf-stalk attached, between 
the thumb and finger in the left hand, and, with the knife 
in the right, open 
the incision in the 
bark sufficiently to 
allow the bud to be 
slipped in as far as 
it will go, when the 
bark will close over 
and retain it. Then 
take a mat-string, or 
a piece of yarn, and 
firmly bind it around 
the bud, leaving only 
the petiole and bud 
exposed, as in c, 
fig. 10. The string 
should be allowed 
to remain for about 
two weeks, or until 
the bud is united to 
the stock. If allow- 
ed to remain longer, 
it will sometimes cut ^^-^^^^^^^ ^ the branches.- 

into the bark of the rapidly growing stock, but is productive 
of no other injury. It is the practice with many cultivators 
to cut off the top of the stock above the bud immediately 
after inoculation. A limited acquaintance with vegetable 
physiology Avould convince the cultivator of the injurious 




124 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



results of this practice, and that the total excision of the 
branches of the stock while in full vegetation must be de- 
structive to a large portion of the roots, and highly detri- 
mental to the prosperity of the plant. A much better mode 
is to bend down the top, and tie its extremity to the lower 
part of the stock. Several days after this is done, the bud 
can be inserted just below the sharpest bend of the arch. 
When the buds are to be placed in the branches of a 
stock, as in fig. 11, the top of the main stem can be cut 

off, and the branches 
arched over and tied 
to the main stem, as at 
/'/ the bud is then in- 
serted in each branch, 
as at e. The circula- 
tion of the sap being 
thus impeded by the 
bending of the branch- 
es, it is thrown into the 
inoculation, and forms 
then a more immediate 
union than it would if 
the branches were not 
arched. After the 
buds have become 
fairly united to the 
stock and have com- 
menced growing, the 
top can be safely cut 
Fig. 12.— BUDDING A POTTED ROSE. offtothcbud, although 
it w^ould be still better to make the pruning of the top i 
proportionate to the growth of the bud ; by this means, a 
slower, but more healthy vegetation is obtained. When 
the buds are inserted very lat-e in the season, it is better 
not to cut off the top of the stock or branches until the 
following spring, and to preserve the bud dormant. If 




PEOPAGATION OF THE EOSE. 



125 



allowed to make a rapid growth so late in the season, 
there would be great danger of its being killed by frost. 
European cultivators are very fond of budding several va- 
rieties on one stock, in order to obtain the pretty effect 
produced by a contrast of color. This will only answer 
where great care is taken to select varieties of the same 
vegetating force; otherwise one will soon outstrip the 
others, and appropriate all the nourishment. It is also de- 
sirable that they should belong to the same species. When 
a bud is inserted in a plant in pot, as in fig. 12, the main 
branches are left, and a portion of the top only cut off, in 
order to give the bud some additional nourishment. 

GEAFTIIS'G. 

From the pithy nature of the wood of the Rose, graft- 
ing is always less certain than budding ; but it is frequently 
adopted by cultivators, as budding cannot be relied upon 
in the spring, and as there is much wood from the winter 
pruning which Avould be otherwise wasted. It is also 
useful for working over those plants in which buds have 
missed the previous summer. 

There are several modes of grafting, of which the most 
generally jDracticed is deft-grafting. For this mode, the 
stock is cut off at the desired height with a sharp knife, 
either horizontally, or slightly sloping. The cut should 
be made just above a bud, which may serve to draw up the 
sap to the graft. The stock can then be split with a heavy 
knife, making the slit or cleft about an inch long. The 
cion should be about four inches long, with two or more 
buds upon it. An inch of the lower part of the cion can 
be cut in the shape of a wedge, making one side very 
thin, and on the thick or outer side, leaving a bud oppo- 
site to the top of the wedge. This cion can then be in- 
serted in the cleft as far as the wedge is cut, being very 
careful to make the bark of the cion fit exactly to that of 



126 



PAESOXS OX THE KOSE. 



the stock. In order to exclude the air, the top and side 
of the stock should then be bound mth a strip of cloth 
covered with a composition of beeswax and resin in equal 
parts, with sufficient tallow to make it soft at a reasonably 
low temperature. In the course of two or three weeks. 




Fig. 13. — CLEFT GRAFTING. Fig. 14. — WHIP GRAFTING. 

if every thing is favorable, the cion will begin to unite, 
and will be ready to go forward with advancing vegeta- 
tion. When the stock is sufficiently large, two cions can 
be inserted, as in fig. 13. 

Whip-grafting is performed by cutting a slice of bark 
with a little wood from the side of a stock about an inch 
and a half long, and then paring a cion of the usual length 
down to a very thin lower extremity, as in fig. 14. This 
cion can then be accurately fitted on to the place from which 



PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE. 



127 



the slice of bark and wood is taken. The whole can then 
be bound around with cotton cloth, covered with the 
composition described before. In all grafting it should 
be borne in mind, that it is essential for the bark of the 
cion and that of the stock to touch each other in some 
point, and the more the points of contact, the greater 
will be the chance of success. 

Rind-grafting is also sometimes practiced, but is more 
uncertain than the former, as the swelling of the stock is 
very apt to force the cion 
out. This mode must be 
practiced when the bark 
peels easily, or separates 
with ease from the wood. 
The top of the stock must 
be cut off square, and the 
bark cut throug-h from the 
top about an inch down- 
ward. The point of the 
knife can then be inserted 
at the top, and the bark 
peeled back, as in a, fig. 15. 
It is desirable, as before, 
that a bud should be left on 
the other side of the stock, 
opposite this opening ; and 
the French prefer, also, to have a bud left on the outside 
of the part of the cion which is inserted. The cion should 
be cut out and sloped flat on one side, as in 5, fig. 15 ; then 
inserted in the stock between the bark and wood, as in c, 
and bound with mat-strings, or strips of grafting cloth. 

The French have another mode of grafting stocks about 
the size of a quill or the little finger. It is done by jDlac- 
ing the knife about two inches below a bud which is just 
on the point of starting, and cutting half way through 
the stock, and two inches down, as in fig. 16. The cion 




RIND GRAFTING. 



128 



PARSOXS 0:S THE ROSE. 



is then placed in the lower part of this cavity, in the same 
manner as with cleft grafting. This mode is called 
Aspirant, from the hud above the incision, w^hich continues 
to draw up the sap, until the development of 
the cion. When the cion has grown about two. 
inches, the toj) of the stock is cut off and covered 
with grafting wax. This mode is not always 
successful, as the sap sometimes leaves the side 
of the stock which has been j)artly cut away 
and passes up the other side. 

The French have also a mode of grafting, 
which they call par incrustation^ and which is 
performed in the spring, as soon as the leaf-buds 
appear. A cion with a bud adhering to the wood 
is cut in a sort of oval shape, and inserted in a 
cavity made of the same shape, and just below 
an eye w^hich has commenced growing. It is then 
bound around wdth matting, as in budding. This 
is a sort of spring budding, with rather more wood 
^^a- attached to the bud, than in summer budding. It 
is very successfully practiced by various cultivators in the 
vicinity of Paris. There is still another mode sometimes 
practiced in France, which owes its origin to a cultivator 
named Lecoq. A small branch is chosen, which is provided 
with two buds, one of them being on the ujDper part, and 
the other near its larger end. A sidelong sloping cut is 
made all along its lower half, the upper being left entire. 
When the cion is thus prepared, its cut side is fitted to 
the side of the stock under the bark, which has been cut 
and peeled back. It is then bound around with mat- 
strings or grafting cloth in the usual way. This mode 
has a peculiar merit ; should the upper bud not grow, the 
lower one rarely fails, and develops itself as in common 
budding. 

Cleft and whip-grafting is also practiced occasionally 
upon the roots of the Rose, and succeeds very well with 




PROPAGATION OF THE ROSE. 



129 



some varieties. These modes of grafting can all be more 
successfully practiced on stocks in j^ots in green-houses 
with bottom heat and bell glasses. We have given 
thus concisely, and, we hope, clearly, the various modes of 
budding and grafting with which we are acquainted. 
They may be sufficient to enable the amateur to amuse 
his leisure hours, though his success may not entirely meet 
his expectations. Simple as these operations are, they 
require a kind of skill, and, if we may so call it, sleight-of- 
hand, which is only attained by constant practice upon 
a great number of plants. 



6* 



130 



PAESONS 0:Nr THE EOSE. 



CHAPTER Yin. 
]VIULTIPLICATIOl!q" BY SEED AISFD HYBRIDIZING. 

We have describedp in former pages, the various modes 
of cultivating the Rose, and of j^ropagating the many- 
beautiful varieties which exist, and would now briefly ad- 
vert to a mode of developing still farther the beauty 
which lies hid within the horny covering that protects the 
dormant germ of vitality — in other words, of obtaining 
new varieties by seed. With the making of the seed-bed 
commenced a new era in the culture of the Rose, and ad- 
vancing with rapid strides, it made more progress in forty 
years than in centuries before. The Dutch seem to have 
been the first to raise roses from seed, by the same mode 
which they applied successfully to their tulips, hyacinths, 
etc., and from the time that this mode became generally 
employed, the varieties of roses began to increase. In 
this species of cultivation the French soon outstripped 
their Dutch neighbors, and gained the reputation which 
they still retain, of preeminent skill in the production of 
new varieties of roses from the seed. 

From 1805 to 1810, the Empress Josephine, whose love 
for flowers is well known, collected at her favorite resi- 
dence, Malmaison, the choicest varieties of the Rose that 
could be obtained from Holland, Germany, and Belgium, 
and thus gave an increased impulse to the culture of roses 
in the vicinity of Paris. 

According to De Pronville, a French writer, there were, 
in 1814, only 182 varieties of roses, and the advantage of 
multiplication by seed is sufficiently evinced by the fact 
that there are now more than 6,000 varieties, the poor- 
est of which are much better than any which existed at 



MULTIPLICATION BY SEED AKD HYDEIDIZING. 131 

that day. Among the earliest cultivators of roses from 
the seed, were three Frenchmen : Dupont, Vilmorin, and 
Descemet. The former was the gardener of the Empress 
Josephine. When the allied armies entered Paris, in 
1815, the garden of Descemet contained 10,000 seedling 
roses, which Vibert, in his anxiety to secure from destruc- 
tion, succeeded in carrying to his garden in the interior. 

In England, very little attention seems, at that time, to 
have been paid to the production of new varieties from seed, 
and the English relied very much upon the continent for 
their choice roses. Now, however, they are abundantly 
redeeming their reputation, and many fine varieties have 
been produced by English rose-growers, at the head of 
whom stands Rivers, whose efforts are seconded by 
Wood, Paul, Lane, and others. They are still, however, 
compelled to yield to the French cultivators ; for to these 
we are indebted for our very finest roses — for Lamarque, 
Solfaterre, La Reine, Chromatella, the new white Perpetu- 
als. Souvenir de Malmaison, and others. 

The varieties of roses became increasingly great after 
the introduction of the Bengals, Noisettes, Teas, and 
Bourbons — all these classes j^i'oducing readily from seed, 
'and in endless variety. There still remains a willingness 
to cast aside the old for the new, and however much we 
may regret this disposition, for the sake of some old and 
truly deserving favorites, we cannot feel willing to de- 
nounce it, for it exhibits a gratifying evidence of a desire 
for improvement, and the existence of a spirit of progress, 
which, dissatisfied with things as they are, is continually 
striving after nearer approaches to perfection. If, in this 
strife, some of our old favorites have been cast aside, we 
are more than abundantly compensated for their loss by 
the new claimants to our regard. 

Those who intend to raise new roses from seed should 
select varieties differing as much as possible in color and 
habit, and possessing broad, thick, and well-formed pet- 



132 



PAES0X5 OX THE EOSE. 



als ; their stamens should also be visible, and their pistils 
perfect ; for perfectly double flowers, in which all the or- 
gans of projDagation — the stamens and pistils — are changed 
into petals, never yield seed. These should be planted 
together in a rich soil, and as far as possible from any- 
other roses. If there are among them any two varieties 
whose peculiarities it is desired to unite in a single plant, 
place these next to each other, and there may possibly be 
such an admixture of the pollen as will j^roduce the de- 
sii'ed result. 

Care should be taken not to affect the proper maturity 
of the seed by taking off the petals, but allow them to 
fall by their oAvn decay. The seed should be perfectly 
mature before it is gathered, which will be immediately 
after the first hard frost. After the hips have been gath- 
ered, the seeds can be taken out with the point of a knife, 
or, if there is a large quantity, they can be put on a table 
and bruised with a wooden roller ; the covering of the 
seeds is so tough that they cannot easily be injured. 
When the hip is sufiiciently bruised, it can be plunged in- 
to a vessel of water ; and by continued friction, the seeds 
can be easily separated from the pulp which surrounds 
them, and will generally fall to the bottom.- After 
being dried a few days in the shade, they should be 
placed just beneath the surface, in pots filled with fine 
sand, or peat earth, where they can be kept until wanted 
for planting in the spring. The seeds which are not thus 
placed in sand soon after they are gathered will not grow 
until the second, and if delayed very long, until the third 
year. In this case, however, their germination can be 
hastened by sowing them in earthen pans, which are 
placed upon a hot-bed or under a glass frame. The seeds 
being thus planted immediately after being gathered, the 
sand should be kept moistened through the winter, and the 
pots put out of t'ne reach of frost. 3Iice are very fond 
of these seeds, and will destroy them unless they are pro- 



MULTIPLICATIOX BY SEED AXD HYBRIDIZING. 133 

tected. The pots should be kept out of all heat, except- 
ing what may be required to keep the frost from them, 
until the first of April, in this latitude, and at the South, 
earlier ; this is requisite, in order to prevent their germ- 
inating before all danger of frost is past in the open air. 
At the time the pots or pans are brought from their shel- 
tered place into a warm temj^erature, beds for the plants 
should be made in the open air, that they may be ready 
the moment they are required. For these an eastern as- 
pect is the best, and in our hot climate, on the north side 
of a fence would answer very well ; if they are in an open 
piece of ground, they should be sheltered by an awning 
from the hot sun. The soil should be a rich, light sandy 
mould, with a little peat, if convenient, and should be 
finely pulverized. The seeds should now be closely w^atch- 
ed, and the moment they are seen pushing up the sand, in 
order to obtain light, they should be taken out singly with 
the point of a knife, taking a small portion of the sand 
with them. The bed having been previously watered, and 
raked fine, drills can be made, half an inch deep and 
about a foot apart, in which the germinating seeds can be 
placed, at a distance of six inches from each other, and 
then carefully covered with finely pulverized soil. Having 
commenced germinating in the pots, the seeds, now in the 
genial warmth of a spring sun, but protected from its 
fiercest rays, will soon show their heads above the ground, 
and striking deep root in the rich soil, grow rapidly. 
"While the plants are small, care should be taken to keep 
the ground constantly moist. 

TVe are aware that this process is somewhat new with 
rose seeds, although it has been long practiced with 
Rhododendrons and other plants, but we are convinced 
of its superiority to the old mode. The delicate roots of 
young plants are very susceptible of injury by change, 
and many are frequently lost by the first potting ; this 
risk is avoided by transplanting the seed before the first 



134 



PARSO^fS O^^^ THE ROSE. 



root fibre is formed, and when, being in the act of germ- 
ination, there can be no possible danger of its rotting, 
which is frequently a serious objection to sowing seeds at 
once in the open ground. The trouble and risk of loss 
occasioned by subsequent re-pottings are also avoided, 
and the plants have, by this mode, full liberty to grow as 
luxuriantly as they choose, with only the slight attention 
required by watering and shading. As the plan of Rivers 
is materially difierent, we will give his directions in de- 
tail, admitting, at the same time, that, under some circum- 
stances, it may be preferable to that we have presented 
above. 

The hips of all the varieties of roses, will, in general, 
be fully ripe by the beginning of I^ovember ; they should 
then be gathered and kept entire, in a flower pot filled 
with dry sand, carefully guarded from mice. In Febru- 
ary, or by the first week in March, they must be broken 
to pieces with the fingers, and sown in flower pots, such 
as are generally used for sowing seeds in, called 'seed 
pans but for rose seeds they should not be too shallow ; 
nine inches in depth will be enough. These should be 
nearly, but not quite, filled with a rich compost of rotten 
manure and sandy loam, or peat ; the seeds may be cov- 
ered, to the depth of about half an inch, with the same 
compost ; a piece of kiln wire must then be placed over 
the pot, fitting closely at the rim, so as to prevent the in- 
gress of mice, which are passionately fond of rose seeds ; 
there must be space enough between the wire and the 
mould for the young plants to come up — half an inch will 
probably be found enough ; the pots of seed must never 
be placed under glass, but kept constantly in the open air, 
in a full sunny exposure, as the wire will shade the mould 
and prevent its drying. Water should be given occasion- 
ally, in dry weather. The young plants v/ill perhaps 
make their appearance in April or May, but very often the 
seed does not vegetate until the second spring. When 



MULTIPLICATIOX BY SEED AND HYBRIDIZING. 135 

they have made their ' rough leaves,' that is, when they 
have three or four leaves, they must be carefully raised 
with the point of a narrow pruning-knife, potted into small 
pots, and placed in the shade ; if the weather is very hot 
and dry, they may be covered with a handglass for a few 
days. They may remain in those pots a month, and then 
be planted out into a rich border ; by the end of August 
those that are robust growers will have made shoots long 
enough for budding." Until the plants have become 
firmly rooted, and, in fact, through the most of the first 
summer, they should be protected from the heat of the 
sun ; a cheap mode of doing this is to put up rough posts, 
connect them by pieces of wood, lay rough slats across 
these, and cover the whole with straw or cornstalks ; but 
a much neater covering is a good canvas awning, sup- 
ported by posts, which can be taken down when not need- 
ed, and will last many years. The Bourbons and Bengals, 
with the Teas and ISToisettes, will sometimes bloom the 
first season; but as the plant will be weak, a correct 
opinion cannot be formed of its character until the second 
summer. The summer roses, or those which bloom only 
once in the season, never show bloom until their third, and 
sometimes not until their fourth and fifth year. It is well 
to let all the plants remain in the seed-bed until the fifth 
year, as some which prove unpromising at first may result 
in something really good. All that prove bad the fifth 
year can be marked for destruction, or cut down to receive 
the buds of the good varieties. In order to obtain a good 
bloom as soon as possible, it is well to have ready some 
strong stocks of the Greville, Mannetti, or any other free- 
growing rose, into which buds can be inserted of any of the 
seedlings whose habit and general appearance promise good 
flowers, and whose growth has been sufilcient to furnish 
good buds. The next spring the stock should be cut down 
to the bud, which will then make luxuriant shoots, and 
produce flowers the same season, if an Everblooming va- 



136 



PARSONS ON THE HOSE. 



riety ; but if one of the Summer roses, not until tbe next 
season. The third spring let every branch be cut down 
to three or four eyes, when it will more fully develop its 
character, and will often continue improving until its fifth 
or sixth year. 

The first winter, the young plants will require protec- 
tion from the cold by some kind of litter, and the Bengal, 
Tea, and Noisette varieties will always need it during the 
winter. Where there are any plants of these latter, whose 
habit and appearance promise something excellent, they 
can be potted on the approach of winter, kept in a cool 
temperature, free from frost, and replanted in the spring. 

When it is desired that the young plant should possess 
the properties of two well-known flowers, resort is had to 
artificial impregnation. 

Although the existence of sexuality in plants appears 
to have been known to the ancients, and is mentioned not 
only by Pliny, Claudian, and Theophrastus, but also by 
Ebu-Alwan, in a work on agriculture written originally in 
Chaldaic ; yet it does not seem to have been generally ad- 
mitted by botanists, until announced by Linnaeus in 1731. 
From this time the possibility of the existence of hybrid 
plants was admitted, and Linnaeus, with many subsequent 
authors, published observations tending to show that, even 
in the natural state, new species were formed by two dif- 
ferent plants, the pistil of one having been fecundated by 
the stamens of the other. This impregnation has been 
artificially applied, by modern cultivators, to the produc- 
tion of new varieties of fruits and flowers. With the 
Geranium, Fuchsia, Paeony, Pansy, and other flowers, it 
has produced remarkable results. The mode of impreg- 
nating the Rose artificially has been so little practiced 
with us, and has been so well described by Rivers, that 
we prefer detailing the process in his own words : 

" When it is desirable the qualities of a favorite rose 
should preponderate, the petals of the flo^^er to be fertil- 



MULTIPLICATION BY SEED AND IIYBKIDIZING. 137 

ized must be opened gently with the fingers. A flower 
that will expand in the morning should be opened the 
afternoon or evening previous, and the anthers all remov- 
ed with a pair of pointed scissors. The following morn- 
ing, when this flower is fully expanded, it must be fertil- 
ized with a flower of some variety of whose qualities it is 
desired to have seedlings largely partake. It requires 
some watchfulness to open the j^etals at the proper time ; 
if too soon, the petals will be injured in forcing them 
open, and in hot weather, in July, if delayed only an hour 
or two, the anthers will be found to have shed their pollen. 
To ascertain precisely when the pollen is in a fit state for 
transmission, a few of the anthers should be gently press- 
ed with the finger and thumb ; if the yellow dust adheres 
to them, the operation may be performed ; it requires close 
examination and some practice to know when the flower 
to be operated upon is in a fit state to receive the pollen ; 
as a general rule, the flowers ought to be in the same 
state of expansion, or, in other words, about the same age. 

"To exemplify the process, Ave will supjDose that a 
climbing Moss Rose, with red or crimson flowers, is w^ish- 
ed for: the flowers of the Blush Ayrshire, which bear 
seed abundantly, may be selected, and before expansion, 
the anthers removed ; the following morning, or as soon 
after the operation as these flowers open, they should be 
fertilized with those of the Luxembourg Moss ; if the 
operation succeed, seed will be procured, from which, the 
probability is, that a climbing rose will be produced with 
the habit and flowers of the Moss Rose, or at least an ap- 
proximation to them. I mention the union of the Moss 
and Ayrshire Roses by way of illustration, and merely 
to point out to the amateur how extensive and how inter- 
esting a field of operations is open in this way. I ought 
to give a fact that has occurred in my own experience, 
which will tell better with the sceptical than a thousand 
anticipations. About four years since, in a pan of seed- 



138 



PARSONS ON THE EOSE. 



ling Moss Roses, was one with a most peculiar habit, even 
when very young ; this has since proved a hybrid rose, 
partaking much more of the Scotch Rose than of any 
other, and until the plant arrived at full growth, I thought 
it a Scotch Rose, the seed of which had by accident been 
mixed with that of the Moss Rose, although I had taken 
extreme care. To my surprise it has since proved a per- 
fect hybrid, having the sepals and the fruit of the Provence 
Rose, with the spiny and dwarf habit of the Scotch Rose ; 
it bears abundance of hips, which are all abortive. The 
difference in the fruit of the Moss and Provence Rose, and 
that of the Scotch, is very remarkable ; and this it was 
which drew my particular attention to the plant in ques- 
tion. It was raised from the same seed, and in the same 
seed-pan, as the single crimson Moss Rose. As this strange 
hybrid came from a Moss Rose accidentally fertilized, we 
may expect that art will do much more for us. 

" It is only in cases where it is wished for the qualities 
of a particular rose to predominate, that the removal of 
the anthers of the rose to be fertilized is necessary : thus, 
if a yellow climbing rose is desired by the union of the 
Yellow Brier with the Ayrshire, every anther should be 
removed from the latter, so that it is fertilized solely with 
the pollen of the former. In some cases, where it is de- 
sirable to have the qualities of both parents in an equal 
degree, the removal of the anthers must not take place : 
thus I have found, by removing them from the Luxem- 
bourg Moss, and fertilizing that rose with a dark variety 
of Hosa Gallica^ that the features of the Moss Rose are 
totally lost in its offspring, and they become nearly pure 
varieties of the former ; but if the anthers of the Moss 
Rose are left untouched, and it is fertilized with Bosa 
Gallica^ interesting hybrids are the result, more or less 
mossy." 

There is no branch of rose culture possessing more in- 
terest for the amateur, with whose leisure its prosecution is 



MULTIPLICATION BY SEED AND HYDRIDIZING. 139 

compatible. The constant care and attention required, in 
order to ensure success, place it in a great measure beyond 
the limits of a large commercial establishment. The 
great desideratum at this time is a double, yellow, climb- 
ing rose. If the Harrison Rose were fertilized Avith the 
Queen of the Prairies, or the latter with the Solfaterre or 
Chromatella, a rose might possibly be obtained with the 
rich yellow of the Harrison Rose, and the robust habit 
and beautifully formed flower of the Queen of the Prairies. 
While, however, we recommend this mode of artificial 
impregnation, we would by no means discourage the sow- 
ing of seeds whose flowers have not thus been fecundated. 
The seed of the Harrison Rose, or of any of the yellow 
roses, may, if perseveringly saved from generation to 
generation, produce a yellow climbing rose. In fact, we 
are inclined to think that among all the reputed hybrids, 
a much less number than is supposed owe their origin to 
a crossed fecundation. It is a fact generally admitted by 
botanists, that all varieties of plants will generally pro- 
duce from their seed plants very dissimilar, preserving, 
perhaps, some peculiarities of their parents, but difiering 
in many essential particulars. 

It will thus be perceived that, in the simple sowing of 
seeds, where there is a dislike to the trouble of artificial 
impregnation, there is a wide field for experiment and for 
successful result. But to those who have the leisure and 
the patience to transfer from one plant to another its fer- 
tilizing matter, it forms a pleasant amusement, with rather 
a greater probability of satisfactory results. In either 
case, every amateur of roses should have his seed-plat ; 
and if, out of a thousand, or even five thousand roses, he 
should obtain one good variety, and differing from any other 
known, he will be conferring an important service upon 
rose-culture, and will encourage others to pursue the same 
course, until we shall be in no wise behind either France 
or England in this interesting branch of horticulture. 



140 



PAKSONS ON THE EOSE. 



CHAPTER IX. 
DISEASES AND INSECTS ATTACKING THE ROSE. 

Brave Kose, alas, wliose art tbou ? In tliy cliair 
Where thou didst lately so triumph aud shine 
A worm doth sit, whose many feet and hair 
y Are the more foul the more thou art divine. 
This, this hath done it ; this did bite the root 

And bottom of the leaves, which, when the wind 
Did once perceive, it blew them under foot, 
Where rude, unhallow'd steps do crush and grind 
Their beauteous glories. Only shreds of thee, 
And those all bitten, in thy chair I see. 

Herbert. 

The diseases to which the Rose is liable are generally- 
owing either to the presence of various Cryptogamic 
plants, or to the attacks of certain insects whose larvae 
are supported at the expense of the plant. Among Cryp- 
togamic parasites which have been observed u23on rose- 
bushes, and which infest chiefly the Provence and other 
rough-leaved roses, the following are the most trouble- 
some : 

Rust. — ^The rust, when examined by a magnifier, is 
found to consist of minute yellow spots, each of which is 
a fungus, Lecythea JRosce, It is common and injurious to 
roses, as it frequently covers all the leaves. The most ef- 
fectual mode of preventing its spreading is to cut off* with 
care and burn all the infected branches, which will some- 
times render necessary the destruction of the whole plant. 

Mildew, — The minute fungus which produces mildew is 
called by botanists SphcBvotheca pannosa. It appears like 
a gray mould on the smaller stems and blistered leaves. 
It is a very troublesome enemy to the Rose, and will 
sometimes put at defiance every application for its destruc- 



DISEASES AND INSECTS ATTACKING THE EOSE. 141 

tion. The most effectual is smoking with sulphur, dusting 
with dry flowers of sulphur, or syringing with sulphur wa- 
ter. The former should only be practiced by a skillful 
hand, as too much sulphur-smoke will sometimes entirely 
kill the plant. 

Mould is due to a minute gray fungus, Peronospora 
sparsa^ and manifests its ^^r^sence by the appearance of 
irregular pale broAvnish spots upon the upper surface of 
the leaf. Upon the under surface of these spots the 
mould will be found. 

Other species of fungi attack the Rose, but they are 
not suflSciently troublesome to the cultivator to need 
enumeration here. 

The insects which infest the Rose are quite numerous, 
and their attacks are more or less injurious. The majority 
of those which are found on the plant in the state of per- 
fect insects are comparatively harmless. The most in- 
jurious are those whose larvae feed on the leaves and pith 
of the trunk and limbs, and thus destroy the plant ; while 
the perfect insect, like the Green-fly, will simply stop the 
growth and impair the health of the tree, by fastening up- 
on the green and tender bark of the young shoots, and 
devouring the sap. It is highly desirable that amateur 
cultivators should devote more time to the study of Ento- 
mology, for upon an intimate acquaintance with the hab- 
its of these minute depredators depends, in a greater de- 
gree than is generally supposed, the success of cultivation. 
Our own leisure is so limited, that we have been able to 
devote very little time to this subject; and we can find 
no work that treats in detail the insects that attack the 
Rose. We simply give some account of the most trouble- 
some ones drawn mainly from Harris' Insects Injurious to 
Vegetation. 

Green-Fly, or Plant-Louse, — Aphis Bosoe, — This very 
common insect is a scourge to roses, from the facility of its 



142 



PAKSCXS OX THE EOSE. 



reproduction, and its numerous progeny sometimes en- 
tirely cover the leaves, the young sprouts, and the flower 
buds. Devouring the sap, they are very injurious, and, 
when numerous, sometimes destroy the plant, while they 
soil every part on which they collect. The most common 
species is of a pale green, but there is a variety of a dingy 
yellow. Many are destroyed by small birds, but they 
have other enemies, as the larvae of the Coccinellas^ or 
Lady-birds, and other insects destroy large numbers. 
The first eggs of the Green-fly are deposited in the au- 
tumn, at the base of the buds, and are hatched in the early 
part of the following spring. Generation after generation 
is then rapidly produced, numbering sometimes eight or 
ten before autumn. These are produced alive, and Avith- 
out the intervention of the male. Reaumur estimated 
that a single Aphis might produce six thousand millions in 
one summer. The first hatching can be prevented by 
washing the plant with soft soaj^ and water, or with whale- 
oil soap, before the buds commence swelling. When the 
plant is infested with them, it can be washed with tobac- 
co-water and then rinsed in clean water. If in a house, 
fumio-ation with tobacco is better. An Enoiish writer 
recommends washing in a decoction of an ounce of quassia 
to a quart of water, as a very eflective and safe remedy. 
Fumigation is, however, the most thoroughly searching 
remedy, and can be easily applied to plants in the open 
air, by means of an empty barrel inverted over the plant, 
and a pan of burning tobacco. 

Gall-Flies. — Several species of Cynips^ or Gall-flies, at- 
tack the rose, their punctures, made for the purpose of 
depositing their eggs, being followed by variously fonned 
excrescences containing the larvae. The Bedequars, formed 
by the puncture of the Cyrdps Mosce^ were formerly em- 
ployed in medicine as astringents. Harris enumerates the 
American species as follows : 

Cymps hicolor, — "Round, prickly galls, of a reddish 



DISEASES AND IXSECTS ATTACKIXG THE KOSE. 143 

color, and rather larger than a pea, may often be seen on 
rose-bushes. Each of them contains a single grub, and 
this in due time turns to a gall-fly. Its head and thorax 
are black, and rough with numerous little pits ; its hhid- 
body is polished, and, A^ith the legs, of a brownish-red 
color. It is a large insect compared with the size of its 
gall, measuring nearly one-fifth of an inch in length, while 
the diameter of its gall, not including the prickles, rarely 
exceeds three-tenths of an inch." 

Cynips cUchlocerus^ " or the gall-fly with two-colored 
antennae, is of a brownish-red or cinnamon color, with four 
little longitudinal grooves on the top of the thorax, the 
lower part of the antennre red, and the remainder black. 
It varies in being darker sometimes, and measures from 
one-eighth to three-sixteenths of an inch in length. Great 
numbers of these gall-flies are bred in the irregular woody 
galls, or long excrescences, of the stems of rose-bushes." 

Cynips semipiceus. — ''The small roots of rose-bushes, 
and of other jDlants of the same fomily, sometimes pro- 
duce rounded, Avarty, and woody knobs, inhabited by 
numerous gall-insects, Avhich, in coming out, pierce them 
with small holes on all sides. The winged insects closely 
resemble the dark varieties of the ^^I'eceding species in 
color, and in the little furrows on the thorax ; but their 
legs are rather paler, and they do not measure more than 
one-tenth of an inch in leno;th." 

Rose-Slug, Selandria Hosce, of Harris, who gives the 
following account : " The saw-fly of the rose, which, as it 
does not seem to have been described before, may be call- 
ed Selandria liosce^ from its favorite plant, so nearly re- 
sembles the slug-worm saw-fly as not to be distinguished 
therefrom except by a practiced observer. It is also very 
much like Selandria barda^ Vitis^ and pygmcea^ but has 
not the red thorax of these three closely allied species. 
It is of a deep and shining black color. The first two 



144 



PAESONS ON THE EOSE. 



pairs of legs are brownish-gray or dirty white, except the 
thighs, which are almost entirely black. The hind legs are 
black, with whitish knees. The wings are smoky, and 
transparent, with dark brown veins, and a brown spot near 
the middle of the edge of the first paii\ The body of the 
male is a little more thaa three-twentieths of an inch long, 
that of the female one-fifth of an inch or more, and the 
wings expand nearly or quite two-fifths of an inch. These 
saw-flies come out of the ground at various times between 
the twentieth of May and the middle of June, during 
which j)eriod they pair and lay their eggs. The females 
do not fly much, and may be seen, during most of the day, 
resting on the leaves ; and, when touched, they draw up 
their legs, and fall to the ground. The males are more 
active, fly from one rose-bush to another, and hover around 
their sluggish partners. The latter, when about to lay 
their eggs, turn a little on one side, unsheathe their saws, 
and thrust them obliquely into the skin of the leaf, de- 
positing in each incision thus made, a single egg. The 
young begin to hatch in ten days or a fortnight after the 
eggs are laid. They may sometimes be found on the 
leaves as early as the first of June, but do not usually ap- 
pear in considerable numbers until the twentieth of the 
same month. How long they are in coming to maturity, 
I have not particularly observed; but the period of their 
existence in the caterpillar state probably does not exceed 
three weeks. They somewhat resemble the young of the 
saw-fly in form, but are not quite so convex. They have 
a small, round, yellowish head, with a black dot on each 
side of it, and are provided with twenty-two short legs. 
The body is green above, paler at the sides, and yellowish 
beneath ; and it is soft, and almost transparent like jelly. 
The skin of the back is transversely wrinkled, and covered 
with minute elevated points ; and there are two small, 
triple-pointed warts on the edge of the first ring, immedi- 
ately behind the head. These gelatinous and sluggish 



DISEASES AND INSECTS ATTACKING THE KOSE. 145 

creatures eat the upper surface of the leaf in large irreg- 
ular patches, leaving the veins and the skin beneath un- 
touched ; and they are sometimes so thick that not a leaf 
on the bushes is spared by them, and the whole foliage 
looks as if it had been scorched by fire, and drops off soon 
afterward. They cast their skins several times, leaving 
them extended and fastened on the leaves ; after the last 
moulting they lose their semi-transparent and greenish 
color, and acquire an opaque yellowish hue. They then 
leave the rose-bushes, some of them slowly creeping down 
the stem, and others rolling up and dropping off, espe- 
cially when the bushes are shaken by the w^ind. Having 
reached the ground, they burrow to the depth of an inch 
or more in the earth, where each one makes for itself a 
small oval cell, of grains of earth, cemented with a little 
gummy silk. Having finished their transformations, and 
turned to flies, within their cells, they come out of the 
ground early in August, and lay their eggs for a second 
brood of young. These, in turn, perform their appointed 
work of destruction in the autumn ; they then go into the 
ground, make their earthy cells, remain therein through- 
out the winter, and appear in the winged form, in the fol- 
lowing spring and summer. 

" During several years past, these pernicious vermin 
have infested the rose-bushes in the vicinity of Boston, 
and have proved so injurious to them, as to have excited 
the attention of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, 
by w^hom a premium of one hundred dollars for the most 
successful mode of destroying these insects was oflered in 
the summer of 1840. About ten years ago, I observed 
thein in gardens in Cambridge, and then made myself ac- 
qainted with their transformations. At that time they 
had not reached Milton, my former place of residence, 
and have appeared in that place only within two or three 
years. They now seem to be gradually extending in all 
directions, and an effectual method for preserving pup 

7 



146 



PAESOXS OX THE EOSE. 



roses from their attacks lias become very desirable to all 
persons who set any value on this beautiful ornament of 
our gardens and shrubberies. Showering or syringing 
the bushes with a liquor, made by mixing with water the 
juice expressed from tobacco by tobacconists, has been 
recommended ; but some caution is necessary in making 
this mixture of a proper strength, for if too strong, it is 
injurious to plants ; and the experiment does not seem, as 
yet, to have been conducted with sufficient care to insure 
safety and success. Dusting lime over the plants when 
wet with dew has been tried, and found of some use ; but 
this and all other remedies will probably yield in efficacy 
to Mr. Haggerston's mixture of whale-oil soap and water, 
in the proportion of two pounds of the soap to fifteen 
gallons of water. Particular directions, drawn up by 
Mr. Haggerston himself, for the preparation and use of 
this simple and cheap application, may be found in the 
" Boston Courier " for the 25th of June, 1841, and also 
in most of our agricultural and horticultural journals of 
the same time. The utility of this mixture has already 
been repeatedly mentioned in this treatise, and it may be 
applied in other cases with advantage. Mr. Haggerston 
finds that it effectually destroys many kinds of insects ; 
and he particularly mentions plant-lice of various kinds, 
red spiders, canker-worms, and a little jumping insect 
which has lately been found quite as hurtful to rose-bush- 
es as the slugs or young of the saw-fly." 

Rose-Bugt — Macrodactylus suhspinosa. — " Common as 
this insect is in the vicinity of Boston, it is, or was a few 
years ago, unknown in the northern and western parts of 
Massachusetts, in ISTew Hampshire, and in Maine. It 
may, therefore, be well to give a brief description of it. 
This beetle measures seven-twentieths of an inch in length. 
Its body is slender, tapers before and behind, and is en- 
tirely covered with very short and close ashen-yellow 
down ; the thorax is long and narrow, angularly widened 



DISEASES A-ND INSECTS ATTACKING THE EOSE. 147 

ill the middle of each side, which suggested the name 
suhspmosa^ or somewhat spined ; the legs are slender, 
and of a f)ale red color ; the joints of the feet are tipped 
Avith black, and are very long, w^hich caused Latreille to 
call the genus Macrodactylus^ that is, long toe, or long 
foot. The natural history of the rose-chafer, one of the 
greatest scourges with which our gardens and nurseries 
have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mys- 
tery, but is at last fully cleared up. The prevalence of 
this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance, coincid- 
ini>; with the blossomino^ of that flower, have stained for it 
the popular name by which it is here known. For some 
time after they were first noticed, rose-bugs appeared to 
be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of the rose ; 
but within thirty years, they have prodigiously increased 
in number, haA-e attacked at random various kinds of 
plants in swarms, and have become notorious for their ex- 
tensive and deplorable ravages. The grape-vine in par- 
ticular, the cherry, plum, and apple-trees, have annually 
suffered by their depredations ; many other fruit-trees and 
shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the trees of 
the forest, and the grass of the fields, have been laid un- 
der contribution by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom 
leaves, flowers, and fruits are alike consumed. The unex- 
pected arrival of these insects in swarms, at their first 
coming, and their sudden disappearance at the close of 
their career, are remarkable facts in their history. They 
come forth from the ground during the second week in 
June, or about the time of the blossomino; of the Damask 
Rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end 
of this period the males become exhausted, fall to the 
ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay 
their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few 
days, die also. The eggs laid by each female are about 
thirty in number, and are deposited from one to four 
inclies beneath the surface of the soil ; they are nearly 



148 



PAESOjS^S O^q- THE EOSE. 



globular, whitlsli, and about one-tliirtietli of an inch in 
diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are 
laid. The young larvae begin to feed on such tender 
roots as are within their reach. Like other grubs of the 
Scarabaeians, when not eating, they lie upon the side, 
Avith the body curved, so that the head and tail are nearly 
in contact ; they move w^itli difficulty on a level surface, 
and are continually falling over on one side or the other. 

" They attain their full size in autumn, being then nearly 
three-quarters of an inch long, and about an eighth of an 
hwh in diameter. They are of a yellowish white color, 
Avith a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, which 
is thick and obtuse, or rounded ; a few short hairs are 
scattered on the surface of the body ; there are six short 
legs, namely, a pair to each of the first three rings behind 
the head, and the latter is covered with a horny shell of 
a jD^le rust color. In October they descend below the 
reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In 
the spring they approach toward the surface, and each 
one forms for itself a little cell, of an oval shape, by turn- 
ing round a great many times, so as to compress the 
earth, and render the inside of the cavity hard and 
smooth. Within this cell the grub is transformed to a 
pupa, during the month of May, by casting off its skin, 
Avhich is pushed downward in folds from the head to the 
tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the perfected 
beetle, but it is of a yellowish w^hite color, and its short, 
stump-like wrings, its antenna), and its legs, are folded upon 
the breast, and its w^hole body is inclosed in a thin film 
that wraps each part separately. During the month of 
June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle with- 
draws from its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen 
cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus 
the various changes from the egg to the full development 
of the perfected beetle are conipleted within the space of 
one year, 



DISEASES AND INSECTS ATTACKING THE HOSE. 140 

" Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these 
insects, it is evident that we cannot attack them in the 
egg, the grub, or the pupa state ; the enemy, in these 
stages, is beyond our reach, and is subject to the control 
only of the natural but unknown means appointed by the 
Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. 
When they have issued from their subterranean retreats, 
and have congregated upon our vines, trees, and other 
vegetable productions in the complete enjoyment of their 
propensities, we must unite our elforts to seize and crush 
the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or 
burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected 
by any of the applications usually found destructive to 
other insects. Experience has proved the utility of gath- 
ering them by hand, or of shaking them, or brushing 
them from the plants into tin vessels containing a little 
water. They should be collected daily during the period 
of their visitation, and should be committed to the flames, 
or killed by scalding v/ater. The late John Lowell, Esq., 
states, that in 1823, he discovered on a solitary apple- 
tree the rose-bugs ' in vast numbers, such as could not be 
described, and Vv'ould not be believed if they were de- 
scribed, or at least none but an ocular witness could con- 
ceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was put of 
the question ' in this case. He put sheets under the tree, 
and shook them down and burned them. Dr. Green, of 
Mansfield, whose investigations have thrown much light 
on the history of this insect, proposes protecting plants 
with millinet, and says that in this way only did he suc- 
ceed in securing his grape-vines from depredation. His 
remarks also show the utility of gathering them. ' Eighty- 
six of these spoilers,' says he, ' were known to infest a 
single rose-bud, and were crushed with one grasp of the 
hand.' Suppose, as was probably the case, that one-half 
of them Avere females ; by this destruction, eight hundred 
eggs, at least, vrcre prevented from becoming matured. 



150 



PAESOXS THE EOSE, 



During the time of their prevalence, rose-bugs are some- 
times found in immense numbers on the flowers of the 
common white-weed, or ox-eye daisy, {Chrysanthemum 
leiicanthemum^ a worthless plant, which has come to us 
from Europe, and has been suffered to overrun our pas- 
tures, and encroach on our mowing lands. In certain 
cases it may become expedient rapidly to mow down the 
infested white-weed in dry pastures, and consume it with 
the sluggish rose-bugs on the spot. 

"Our insect-eating birds undoubtedly devour many of 
these insects, and deserve to be cherished and protected 
for their services. Rose-bugs are also eaten greedily by 
domesticated fowls ; and when they become exhausted 
and fall to the ground, or when they are about to lay 
their eggs, they are destroyed by moles, insects, and other 
animals, which lie in wait to seize them. Dr. Green in- 
forms us that a species of dragon-fly, or devil's needle, 
devours them. He also says that an insect, which he calls 
the enemy of the cut-worm, probably the larva of a 
Carabus, or predaceous ground-beetle, preys on the grubs 
of the common dor-bug. In France, the golden ground- 
beetle ( Carahus auratus) devours the female dor or chafer 
at the moment when she is about to deposit her eggs. I 
have taken one specimen of this fine ground-beetle in 
Massachusetts, and we have several other kinds equally 
predaceous, which probably contribute to check the in- 
crease of our native Melolonthians." — Harris, 

A. J. Downing recommends the use of open-mouthed 
bottles, half filled (and occasionally renewed) with a mix- 
ture of sweetened water and vinegar, and placed about 
the plant. He also recommends j)ouring boiling water on 
the ground, under the bushes, at the first appearance of 
the insects, and before their wings are formed. They 
nearly all rise to the surface of the ground, and emerge 
about the same time that the Damask Rose first begins 



DISEASES AND INSECTS ATTACKING THE ROSE. 151 

to open. A little observation will enable the cultivator 
to seize the right time for the scalding operation. 

Rose Leaf-Hopper. — Tettlgonia Sosce of Harris, who 
states that it has been mistaken for the Vine-fretter, 
or Thrips. It is yellowish w^hite, and about three-twenti- 
eths of an inch long ; the male has two recurved append- 
ages at the tip of its hind body. Dr. Harris says, " Swarms 
of these insects may be found in various stages of growth 
on the leaves of the rose-bush through the greater part of 
summer, and even in winter upon housed plants. Their 
numerous cast skins may be seen adhering to the lower 
side of the leaves. They pair and lay their eggs about 
the middle of June, and they probably live through the 
w^inter in the perfect state, concealed under fallen leaves 
and rubbish on the surface of the ground. Fumigation 
with tobacco, and the application of a solution of whale- 
oil soap in water with a syringe, is the best means for 
destroying these leaf-hoppers." 

We have enumerated but a very small part of the nu- 
merous insects which infest the rose, and in the absence 
of correct information on this important branch of flori- 
culture, it is much to be hoped that farther investigations 
will be made by men of leisure. As an instance of the great 
variety of these insects, a French writer remarks that he 
'•found in less than an hour, on the leaves of two species only 
of the Rose, six kinds of small caterpillars, all differing from 
each other in the number of their feet, the color of their 
head and body, and the lines and points with which they 
were marked. Their habits were all apparently the same. 
They lived between two or three folds which they liad se- 
cured in shape by the films of their silk. Thus enveloped 
and protected, they eat the leaf until it is wholly or at 
least partly consumed. They then endeavor to establish 
themselves on another leaf, in which also they enwrap 
themselves, and consume it in the same manner. The 



152 



PAESOXS OlS" THE EOSE. 



plants attacked by these caterpillars are known by their 
ruffled leaves, partly eaten, and more or less covered with 
silk." The writer does not give their name, nor the re- 
sult of any experiments for their destruction ; he merely 
mentions it as an instance of the great abundance of in- 
sects on almost every plant. Such being the case, there 
is abundant room for farther observation and research. 



HISTORY OF THE ROSE 



Round every flower there gleams a glory, 
Bequeathed by antique song or story; 
To each old legends give a name, 
And its peculiar charm proclaim. 
O'er smiling lawn, through shady grove, 
Our dreaming poets pensive rove, 
And strive to read their language rare, 
And learn the lesson latent there." 

CHAPTER X. 

THE EAELY HISTORY OF THE ROSE, AND FABLES 
RESPECTIKG ITS ORIGIK 

Very little is known of the early history of the Rose, 
or who were its first cultivators ; and on this point all is 
conjecture. Mention of it is made in the ancient Coptic 
manuscripts, while nothing concerning it can be distin- 
guished, with any degree of certainty, on the Egyptian 
monuments which are left us. Bocastre, the French trav- 
eler, observes that he carefully searched all the monuments 
in Egypt, and could find neither sculpture nor painting, 
figure nor hieroglyphic, that would lead us to suppose that 
the Rose was cultivated by the ancient Egyptians. We 
are, however, induced to believe that this beautiful flower 
was known to them, from the fact that several varieties 
are now found in Egypt. Dr. Delile, Director of the Bo- 
tanic Garden at Montpelier, and with whom we enjoyed 
some pleasant intercourse during a visit to that place, 
was with Napoleon in his expedition to Egypt. In his 
153 7* 



154 



PARSOJ^^S ON THE ROSE. 



valuable published account of that expedition, he men- 
tions that he found there two Roses — JRosa alba^ and 
Rosa centifolia ; and there is also reason to believe, that 
under Domitian the Egyptians cultivated another — Rosa 
hifera. It is quite probable that the Rose was planted in 
the celebrated gardens of Babylon, the formation of which 
is attributed to Semiramis, about 1200 years before the 
Christian era ; and it also appears probable, from the test- 
imony of modern travelers, that several kinds of roses 
crossed over into Persia. 

It is very certain that the Rose was cultivated by the 
Jews during the reign of Solomon, about two centuries 
after Semiramis ; for mention of this flower is made in the 
Scripture books attributed to that king. In the Song of 
Solomon, he says : " I am the Rose of Sharon, and the 
Lily of the valleys and in the Apocryphal Wisdom of 
Solomon—" Let us crown ourselves with rose-buds before 
they be withered." 

It also appears, by several passages of the Book of 
Ecclesiasticus, the author of which lived about 700 years 
after Solomon, tliat the Jews possessed beautiful gardens 
of roses, particularly at Jericho. " I was exalted like a 
palm-tree in Engaddi, and as a rose-plant in Jericho:" 
xxiv. 14. "Hearken unto me, ye holy children, and bud 
forth as a rose growing by the brook of the field :" xxxix. 
13. " And as the flower of roses in the spring of the 
year:" 1. 8. These passages prove that this most fertile 
and beautiful portion of Palestine abounded in roses, 
palms, and cedars. They no longer, however, abound; 
for while " the cedars wave on Lebanon," and the solitary 
palm stands in its isolated beauty, the Rose has entirely 
disappeared ; and that now called the Rose of Jericho is 
but a little plant of the family of Cruciferce. The Greeks 
cultivated the Rose at an early period, during the time 
of Homer, who lived about 200 years after the wise He- 
brew monarch. In the Iliad and Odyssey he borrows the 



HISTORY OF THE ROSE. 



155 



brilliant colors of the Rose to paint tlie rising of the sun. 
Aurora, according to this poet, has fingers of roses, and 
perfumes the air with roses. Few poets are more cele- 
brated than Homer for beauty of conception, and for his 
frequent similes borrowed from natural objects. His se- 
lection, in this instance, evinces tbat the Rose was neither 
an unknown nor an unadmired flower. Herodotus, who 
lived about 400 years before the Christian era, mentions 
that in Macedonia, in the gardens which Avere supposed 
to have belonged to Midas, there were roses of sixty pet- 
als, which grew spontaneously without culture, and 
emitted a most delightful perfume. 

Ancient writings are full of allusions to the Rose, and 
fabulous accounts of its orig:in. From its brilliant colors, 
melting into each other as the shades of night melt into 
the glowing richness of the rising sun, it was frequently 
consecrated to Aurora. It was also consecrated to Har- 
pocrates, the patron of Silence, of which it was consider- 
ed the symbol. Thus the expression, snb rosa " (under 
the Rose), signified that all that was said should remain 
secret ; and there is scarcely used a more expressive de- 
vice for a seal than the simple figure of a Rose. It was 
the custom, in some of the northern countries, to suspend 
a Rose over the table in the dining-room, reminding the 
guests that silence should be observed respecting all that 
miofht be said durins; the meal. 

Anacreon, Bion, Theocritus, Apollodorus, and others, 
relate various fables respecting its origin, and its obtain- 
in the brio'ht color for which it is distinsruished. 

One fable relates that Flora, having found the dead 
body of one of her favorite nymphs, whose beauty could - 
only be equaled by her virtue, implored the assistance of 
all the Olympian deities to aid her in changing it into a 
flower, which all others should acknowledge to be their 
queen. Apollo lent the vivifying power of his beams, 
Bacchus bathed it in nectar, Yertumnus gave its perfume, 



156 



PARSOXS OX THE ROSE. 



Pomona its fruit, and Flora herself gave its diadem of 
flowers. A beetle is often represented on antique gems 
as expiring, surrounded by roses ; and this is supposed to 
be an emblem of luxurious enervation ; the beetle being 
said to have such an antipathy to roses, that the smell of 
them will cause its death. 

From the earliest period the Greeks gave to the Rose 
the preference over all other plants, and distinguished it 
as the " Queen of Flowers." In the fragments which still 
exist of Sappho, who lived about 600 years before the 
Christian era, there are lines in which the Rose is placed 
in the highest rank. 

Since Sappho, many poets, both ancient and modern, 
have celebrated in their songs the charming qualities 
of the Rose. They have chosen it for an emblem 
of the most beautiful things — for the most pleasing and 
delightful comparisons ; and they have imited in making 
it the symbol of innocence, of modesty, of grace, and of 
beauty. Quite a volume might be collected of all the 
verses and pleasant sentences that have been inspired by 
the elegant form of the Rose, its charming color, and de- 
lio-htful fracrrance. Some of these w^e have inserted in 
another part of the work. Nothing proves better the 
preference w^hich has always existed for this beautiful 
flower than the thoughts expressed by Sappho. Anacreon 
and the other poets of antiquity have since imitated her 
in almost every language, and the lines of these have sac- 
rificed nothinor of her eles^ance and freshness. 

The jDoets and writers of the East have abundantly 
celebrated in their works the beauties of the Rose. Ac- 
cording to the Boun-Debesch, of Zoroaster, the stem of 
that flower was free from thorns until the entrance of 
Ahrimanus (the evil one) into the world ; the universal 
spirit of evil, according to their doctrine, affecting not 
only man, but also the inferior animals, and even the very 
trees and plants. The same work states that every flower 



IIISTOKY OF THE ROSE. 



157 



is appropriated to a particular angel, and that the hund- 
red-leaved Rose {Rosa centifoUa) is consecrated to an 
archangel of the highest order. Basil, one of the early 
fathers, had undoubtedly seen these passages in oriental 
works, Avhen he related that at the creation of the world 
the Rose had no thorns, and that it was gradually fur- 
nished with them as mankind became more corrupt. 

The oriental writers also repres'ent the nightingale as 
sighing for the love of the Rose ; and many beautiful 
stanzas have arisen from this fable. According to the 
Language of Flowers ; " In a curious fragment by the cele- 
brated Persian poet, Attar, entitled JBulbul Nameh^ the 
Book of the Nightingale, all the birds appear before Solo- 
mon, and charge the nightingale with disturbing their rest 
by the broken and plaintive strains which he warbles forth 
all the night in a sort of frenzy and intoxication. The 
nightingale is summoned, questioned, and acquitted by 
the wise king ; because the bird assures him that his ve- 
hement love for the Rose drives him to distraction, and 
causes him to break forth into those passionate and touch- 
ing complaints which are laid to his charge." The same 
work also mentions that the Persians assert that " the 
nightingale, in spring, flutters around the rose-bushes, ut- 
tering incessant complaints, till, overpowered by the 
strong scent, he drops stupefied on the ground." The in- 
vention of these fables, extravagant as they are, evince 
the Persian fondness for this beautiful flower. The Ghe- 
bers, or Persian fire-worshipers, believe that Abraham was 
thrown into the fire by Nimrod, when the flame turned 
into a bed of roses. According to the Hindoo mytholo- 
gy. Pagoda Siri, one of the wives of Vishnu, was found 
in a rose. 

Among the many stories of roses in the East, is that 
of the philosopher Zeb, related by Madame de Latour. 
" There was at Amadan, in Persia, an academy with the 
following rules : Its members must think much write a 



158 



PARSONS THE ROSE. 



little, and be as silent as possible. The learned Zeb, cele- 
brated through all the East, learning that there was a 
vacancy in the academy, endeavored to obtain it, but ar- 
rived, unfortunately, too late. The academy was annoyed 
because it had given to power what belonged to merit ; 
and the president, not knowing how to express a refusal 
without mortifying the assembly, caused a cup to be 
brought, which he filled so full of water, that a single 
drop more would have made it run over. The wise phi- 
losopher imderstood by that emblem that no place re- 
mamed for him, and was retiring sadly, when he per- 
ceived a rose petal at his feet. At that sight he took 
courage, seized the petal, and placed it so delicately on 
the water, tliat not a single drop escaped. At this in- 
genious allusion to the rules of the academy, the whole 
assembly clapped their hands, and the j^hilosopher was 
admitted as a member." Madame de Genlis relates very 
nearly the same anecdote, but attributes it to Abdul-kadri, 
a person celebrated among the Turks, who was desirous 
of residing at Babylon, where they were unwilling to re- 
ceive him. 

The Turks themselves, matter-of-fict as they are, have 
also seen somethino; marvelous in the beautiful and vivid 
tints which the hand of nature has painted on the corolla 
of the Rose ; but their imagination, less glowing than 
that of the Greeks, furnished them an idea more singular 
than pleasing. They suppose that the Rose owed its 
origin to the perspiration which fell from 31ahomet ; for 
which reason they never tread upon a rose-leaf, or suffer 
one to lie on the ground. 

Meshilu, the Turkish poet, speaks of " a pavilion of 
roses as the seat of pleasure raised in the garden of 
" roses like the bright cheeks of beautiful maidens ; " of 
the time when " the plants were sick, and the rose-bud 
hung its thoughtful head on its bosom and of the dew, 
as it falls, being changed into rose-water." They also 



HISTORY OF THE ROSE. 



159 



sculpture a rose on the tombstone of a female who dies 
unmarried. 

The early Roman Catholics have made the Rose the 
subject of various miraculous events, one of which is 
attributed to the canonized Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary. 
As the French author, Montalembert, relates it in his his- 
tory of that Queen, Elizabeth loved to carry to the poor 
herself, by stealth, not only money, but even food, and 
other things which she had provided for them. She went 
thus loaded, and on foot, by the steep and hidden paths 
which led from the chateau to the town, and to the cot- 
tages in the neighboring valleys. One day, when, accom- 
panied by her favorite maid, she was descending by a 
rough and scarcely visible path, carrying under her cloak 
some bread, meat, eggs, and other food, for distribution 
among the poor, she was suddenly met by her husband, 
who was returning; from the chase. Astonished to see 
her thus bending under the weight of her burden, he said 
to her, " Let me see what you are carrying." At the 
same time he threw open the cloak, which she held, with 
terror, to her breast, but found, as the legend says, noth- 
ing there but some white and red roses, the most beauti- 
ful he had ever seen. 

D'Orbessan, in his work on the Rose, states, that in the 
church of Sainte-Luzanne, at Rome, is a mosaic of the 
time of Charlemagne, in which that prince is represented 
in a square mantle, and on his knees, while St. Peter is 
placing in his hands a standard covered Avith roses. 

Michaud, in his Blographie TTniverselle^ speaks of 
Clemence Isaure, a French lady, who lived in the latter 
part of the fifteenth century. She bequeathed to the 
academy of Toulouse a large income, exclusively for the 
celebration of floral games, and for the distribution of 
five prizes for as many pieces of poetry. The prizes con- 
sisted of an amaranth and rose of gold, and of a violet, 
marigold, and lily, of silver. The will also required that 



160 



PAESONS ON THE ROSE. 



every three years, on the clay of the comraencement of 
the floral games, among other ceremonies to be observed, 
the members of the academy should visit and spread 
flowers upon her tomb. Ronsard, the French poet, hav- 
ing gained the first 23rize in the floral games, received, in 
place of the accustomed rose, a silver image of Minerva. 
Mary, Queen of Scots, was so much delighted with Ron- 
sard's beautiful poetry on the Rose, that she sent him a 
magnificent rose of silver, valued at £500, with this in- 
scription : — "A, Boiisard, VApollon de la source des 



LUXUKIOUS USE OF THE ROSE. 



IGl 



CHAPTER XI. 

LUXURIOUS USE OF THE ROSE, 

The ancients possessed, at a very early period, the lux- 
ury of roses, and the Romans brought it to perfection by 
coveriiio- with beds of these flowers the couches whereon 
their guests were placed, and even the tables which were 
used for banquets;^ while some emperors went so far as 
to scatter them in the halls of their palaces. At Rome, 
they were, at one time, brought from Egypt in that part 
of the year when Italy could not produce them ; but af- 
terwards, in order to render these luxuries more easily at- 
tainable during the winter by the leaders of the ton in 
that capital city of the world's empire, their gardeners 
found the means of producing, in green-houses warmed 
by means of pipes filled with hot water, an artificial tem- 
perature, Avhich kept roses and lilies in bloom until the 
last of the year. Seneca declaimed, with a show of ridi- 
cule, against these improvements;! but, without being 
discouraged by the reasoning of the philosopher, the Ro- 
mans carried their green-houses to such perfection that, 
at length, during the reign of Domitian, when the Egyp- 
tians thought to pay him a splendid compliment in honor 
of his birthday, by sending him roses in the midst of 
winter, their present excited nothing but ridicule and 
disdain, so abundant had winter roses become at Rome 
by the efforts of art. Few of the Latin poets have been 

* Tempora subtilius pinguntur tecta coronis, 
Et Litent injecta splendida mensa Rosa." (Ovid, lib. v.) 

t ^'Nou vivunt contra Daturam, qui liicme concupiscuut Rosam ? 
Fomentoque aquarum calentium, et calorum apta imitatione, bruma 
lilium florem vernum, exprimuut." {Seneca^ epistle 122-8.) 



162 



PARSOXS OX THE ROSE. 



more celebrated for their epigrammatic wit than Martial ; 
and his epigram " To Csesar, on the AYinter Roses," serves 
to show that the culture of roses at Rome was carried to 
such perfection as to make the attempts of foreign com- 
petitors subjects only for ridicule. 

The ambitious inhabitants of the land watered by the 
Isile have sent thee, O Coesar, the roses of wdnter, as a 
present valuable for its novelty. But the boatman of 
Memphis will laugh at the gardens of Pharaoh as soon as 
he has taken one step in thy capital city — for the spring, 
in its charms, and the flowers in their fragrance and 
beauty, equal the glory of the fields of Paestum. AYher- 
ever he wanders or casts his eyes, every street is brilliant 
with garlands of roses. And thou, O Xile, must now 
yield to the fogs of Rome. Send us thy harvests, and we 
will send thee roses." 

By this passage it is evident that the cultivation of 
Roses among the ancients was much farther advanced 
than is generally supposed. In another epigram Martial 
speaks again of roses, which were formerly seen only in 
the spring, but which, in his time, had become common 
during the winter. VTe are, also, but copyists of the Ro- 
mans in the cultivation of flowers in windows ; for vases 
of every style of beauty, and filled with roses, were a fre- 
quent ornament of their windows. Martial says that a 
miserly patron had made him a present of a very small 
estate, and adds that he has a much better country place 
in his window. Much that illustrates the use which the 
ancients made of roses in their ceremonies, in their festi- 
vals, and in their domestic life, may be found in various 
authors, evincins^ still more how very common the use of 
them had become. Florus relates that Antiochus, king 
of Syria, being encamped in the island of Euboea, under 
woven tents of silk and gold, was not only accompanied 
bv a band of musicians, but that he mis^ht vet more en- 
hance his j^leasures, he wished to procure roses: and 



LUXUKIOUS USE OF THE EOSE. 



163 



although it was in tlie midst of winter, he caused them to 
be collected from every quarter. 

The gallants of Rome were in the habit of presenting 
their favorite damsels with the first roses that appeared 
in spring ; and " Mea rosa " was an affectionate expres- 
sion they often used to their betrothed. 

We frequently find in old Latin authors an entire aban- 
donment to pleasure and excessive luxury, signified by 
such expressions as " living in the midst of roses," "sleep- 
ing on roses," etc. (" Vlvere in rosa^'^ ^^dormire in rosay^ 

Seneca speaks of Smyndiride, the most wealthy and 
voluptuous of the Sybarites, who could not sleep if a sin- 
gle one of the rose-petals with which his bed was spread, 
happened to be curled. 

Cicero, in his " De finibus^^ alludes to the custom which 
prevailed at Rome at that time, of reclining at the table 
on couches covered with roses ; and comparing the happi- 
ness which virtue gives to the pleasures of luxury says, 
that Regulus, in Ijis chains, was more happy than Thori- 
us drinking on a couch of roses, and living in such a man- 
ner that one could scarcely imagine any rare and ex- ^ 
quisite pleasure of which he did not partake." 

The same author, in his celebrated speech against 
Verres, the greatest extortioner whose name is recorded 
in history, reproached liim not only with the outrageous 
robberies and cruelties which he committed during the 
three years that he was governor of Sicily, but yet more 
with his effeminacy and licentiousness. When spring 
commenced," said the Roman orator, " that season was 
not announced to him by the return of Zej^hyr, nor by the 
appearance of any heavenly sign ; it was not until he had 
seen the roses bloom that spring was visible to his volup- 
tuous eye. In the voyages which lie made across the 
province, he was accustomed, after the example of the 
kings of Bithynia, to be called in a litter borne by eight 
men, in which he reposed, softly extended upon cushions 



164 



PAESONS OK THE KOSE. 



made of transparent material, and filled with roses of 
Malta, having in his hand a net of the fmest linen, and 
equally full of these flowers, whose fragrance incessantly 
gratified his eager nostrils." 

Latinus Pacatus, in his enlogiiim on the Emperor Theo- 
dosius, inveighs against the luxury of the Romans, whoso 
sensual desires, he says, were not satisfied until they had 
reversed the order of the seasons, and produced roses in 
the winter season to crown their cup of wine, and until 
their Falernian, during the summer, was cooled in large 
vessels filled with ice. The forcins: of roses in winter is 
no longer extensively practiced in Rome ; but during the 
summer they are abundant, and we recollect being much 
struck with admiration of some beautiful hedges of the 
Daily rose in the villas near Rome. 

After reading the preceding statements of the abund- 
ance of roses among the ancient Romans, it is with some 
surprise that we recollect the great scarcity of that flower 
during the gayest and most animated festival of the mod- 
ern Romans — the Carnival. As we slowly walked along 
the Corso, submitting with as quiet a grace as possible to 
the various fantastic tricks of the masked figures around 
us, and occasionally pelted with handfuls of sugar-plums 
from the windows, or j^assing carriages, we looked in vain 
for roses or camellias in the numerous bouquets that were 
cleaving the air around us. Little bouquets of violets 
were numerous, and the air v/as thick with them, as our 
eyes, nose, and mouth, could bear striking witness ; and 
we recollect, too, the contemptuous curl of the lip, and 
rush of the aristocratic blood into the face of a fair En- 
glish girl in one of the carriages whose blue eyes had been 
nearly closed by an awkward cast of one of these little 
bouquets from the hand of a plebian performer. But we 
only recollect catching a glimpse now and then of a single 
rose or camellia, skillfully passed by a cavalier below into 
the hands of some dark-eyed beauty in the balconies 



LUXURIOUS USE THE HOSE. 



165 



above, the bright sparkle of whose eye convinced us that 
the single flower was of value, and a mark of especial re- 
gard. The Rose appeared to be valued as some rare 
exotic, and not to be idly bestowed where there was small 
probability of its due appreciation ; it was, indeed, a 
" vara flora in itrhe^'^ and quite superseded by the very 
pretty and abundant violets. 

The modern Romans have not only lost many of the 
good qualities of tlieir early ancestors, but they have also 
escaped much of the efieminate softness which character- 
ized the Romans under some of the later emperors ; and, 
as belonging to this state of luxury, the cultivation of the 
Rose has, in modern times, been much neglected. The 
liomage of the Romans is now reserved for art, and the 
beautiful products of nature are, in their opinion, worthy 
only of secondary consideration. The Rose is now most- 
ly confined in that city to the residences of the wealthier 
classes, and can scarcely be said to have resumed its old 
place in Roman esteem until it is again a favorite with 
the mass of the people. 

When Cleopatra Avent into Cilicia to meet Mark An- 
tony, she gave him, for several successive days, festivals 
in which she displayed a truly royal magnificence. She 
caused to be placed in the banqueting liall tw^elve couches, 
each of which would hold three guests. The walls were 
covered with purple tapestry, interwoven with gold ; all 
the vases were of gold, admirably executed, and enriched 
with precious stones. 

On the fourth day, the queen carried her sumptuous- 
ness so far as to pay a talent (about six hundred dollars) 
for a quantity of roses, witli which she caused the floor 
of the hall to be covered to the depth of eighteen inches. 
These flowers were retained by a very fine net, in order 
that the guests might walk over them. 

After the loss of the battle of Actium, Antony, not 
wishing to survive his defeat, from fear of falling into 



163 



PARSO^^S ON THE ROSE. 



the hands of Augustus, thrust himself through with his 
sword, and requested Cleopatra to scatter perfumes over 
Ms tomb, and to cover it with roses. 

The greatest profusion of roses mentioned in ancient 
history, and wliich is scarcely credible, is that which Sue- 
tonius attributes to Nero. This author says, that at a 
fete which tlie emperor gave in the Gulf of Baise, when 
inns were established on the banks, and ladies of distinc- 
tion played the part of hostesses, the expense incurred for 
roses alone was more than four millions of sesterces — 
about $100,000. Since Nero, many of his successors have 
nearly equaled him in prodigal enjoyment of the luxury 
of roses. Lucius Aurelius Verus, whose licentiousness 
and destitution of every manly quality equaled that of 
the worst empei?ors, but whom no one reproaches with 
any act of cruelty, was the inventor of a new species of 
luxury. He had a couch made on which were four raised 
cushions, closed on all sides by a very thin net, and filled 
with leaves of roses. Heliogabalus, celebrated for luxury 
and vice of every kind, caused roses to be crashed with 
the kernels of the pine (Pinus maritima), in order to in- 
crease the 2^erfume. The same emperor caused roses to 
be scattered over the couches, the halls, and even the 
porticoes of the palace, and he renewed this profusion 
with flowers of every kind — lilies, violets, hyacinths, nar- 
cissus, etc. Gallien, another equally cruel and luxurious 
prince, lay, according to some authors, under arbors of 
roses ; and, according to others, on beds covered with 
these flowers. And finally, Carrius, another licentious 
and prodigal emperor, who reigned only a few months, 
caused roses to be scattered over the chambers of his 
palace, and on the couches of his guests. 



THE ROSE IK CEREMONIES, ETC. 167 



CHAPTER XIL 

THE ROSE, m CEREMONIES AND FESTIVALS, AKD IN 
THE ADORNMENT OF BURIAL-PLACES. 

Among the ancients, the Rose was conspicuous in all 
the sacred ceremonies, and in public and private fetes. 
The Greeks and the Romans surrounded the statues of 
Venus, of Hebe, and of Flora, with garlands of roses. 
They were lavish of these flowers at the festivals of Flora ; 
in those of Juno, at Argos, the statue of the Olympian 
Queen was crowned with lilies and roses. In the festivals 
of Hymen, at Athens, the youth of both sexes, crowned 
with roses and adorned with flowers, mingled in dances 
which were intended to represent the innocence of prime- 
val times. At Rome, in the public rejoicings, they some- 
times strewed the streets with roses and other flowers. 
It is thus that Lucretius gives a description of the manner 
in which w^ere celebrated the festivals of Cybele."^'' 

To scatter flowers on the passage of the funeral proces- 
sion of a private citizen was an honor not common at 
Rome. Pliny informs us, however, that a Scipio, belong- 
ing to the illustrious family of that name, who while he 
was tribune, fulfilled his duties to the satisfaction of the 
people, dying without leaving sufficient to pay his funeral 
expenses, the people voluntarily contributed to pay them, 
and on the appearance of the body, cast flowers upon its 
passage. 

Ergo cum i^rimum, magnas invccta per urbes 
Munificat tacita mortales muta salute ; 
-^re atque argento, sternunt iter omne yiarum. 
Largifiea stipe dilaiites, ninguntque Rosarum 
Floribus, umbrantes matr'^.m comitumque catervas.'^ 

Lucretius, lib. ii., ver. 625. 



168 



PAKSONS ON THE EOSE. 



At Bilise, when fetes were given upon the water, the 
whole surface of the lake of Lucina appeared covered 
with roses. . 

The custom of encirclino* the head, of surroundino: the 
neck, and also the breast, with crowns and garlands of 
roses, on different occasions, and jDarticularly during the 
last days of a gay festival, when, after the solid dishes, 
they passed to the dessert and the rare wines, is well 
known by the odes of Anacreon, and from the writings 
of several of the ancient poets. 

The voluptuous Horace, when he abandoned himself to 
pleasures, was always supplied with roses. In congratu- 
lating one of his friends on his safe return from Spain, he 
recommended that these flowers should not be wanting at 
the festival. On another occasion, he told his favorite 
servant that he cordially disliked the pompous displays of 
the Persians, and escaped them by searching in what 
place the late Rose was found. Drawing a picture of 
luxurious ease for his friend Hirpinus, he speaks of " lying 
under the shade of a lofty Plane or Pine tree, perfuming 
our spotless hair with Assyrian spikenard, and crowning 
ourselves with roses." We can very well judge how 
•general had become the custom of making crowns of 
roses, from the number of times which it is mentioned in 
Pliny, and the frequency with which Martial speaks of it 
in his epigrams. The latter author also informs us, that 
in the very height of Roman luxury and reveling, the 
most favorable time for solicitino; and obtaining;; a favor 
was when the patron was entirely given up to the pleas- 
ures of the table and of roses."^' 

Whatever doubt may exist of tlie use of crowns of 
roses, as objects of luxury, it is well authenticated, that 

* " Haec bora est tua, dum furit Lyseus 

Cam regnat Rosa, cum madent capilli, 
Tunc me yel rigidi legant Catones." 

Lib. X., epig. 19. 



THE KOSE IX CERE:M0NIES5 ETC. 



169 



among medical men of antiquity, endeavors were made to 
determine Avhat kinds of flowers were suitable to place in 
crowns without detriment to health; and according to 
the report made on this subject, the parsley, the ivy, the 
myrtle, and the Rose, possessed peculiar virtues for dis- 
sipating the fumes of the wine. According to AtheniBus, 
a crown of roses possessed not only the property of allevi- 
ating pain in the head, but had a very refreshing effect. 

Pliny mentions two Greek physicians — Mnesitheus and 
Callimaclius, — who wrote on this subject. 

The custom of crowning with roses had passed from 
the Greeks to the Romans, and it also existed among the 
Hebrews, who had probably borrowed it from some of the 
neighboring nations, either from the Egyptians, in the 
midst of whom they had spent many years, or from the 
Babylonians, with whom they had in the captivity much 
connection. The practice of this custom among the 
Israelites is attested by the previously quoted passage, 
in the apocryphal " Wisdom of Solomon." 

At Rome it was not only at the religious festivals that 
they crowned themselves with roses and other flowers, 
but it was the custom to wear these crowns during public 
and private fetes ; they were strictly forbidden at some 
other times, and above all on certain public occasions, 
Avhere to appear with such an ornament would pass for an 
insult to a public calamity. Pliny informs us, that during 
the second Punic war, which lasted sixteen years, a banker 
named Lucius Fulvius, for looking from his gallery on the 
Forum, and Avearing a crown of roses on his head, was, 
by order of the Senate, sent to prison, from which he was 
not liberated until the end of the war. 

This anecdote, moreover, proves that crowns of roses 
were in flishion at Rome at an early jDeriod, and before 
licentiousness and luxury had yet made many inroads up- 
on the national character. 

It may readily be supposed, that at Rome, under the 
8^ 



170 



PAEsoisrs OjST the kose. 



emperors, the use of crowns of flowers was, like every 
other siDecies of luxury at that time, constantly on the in- 
crease. At first they wore the crowns interwoven with 
leaves of flowers, then they wore them composed partly 
of roses, and finally they were not satisfied unless they 
consisted of these flowers only. 

Martial, as we have already mentioned, speaks often of 
Ins crowns of roses. The crown sent by this poet to his 
friend Sabinus was composed entirely of these flowers, 
and he was desirous that they should be considered the 
production of his own gardens. 

From the poverty of Turkish history, little is known of 
the early use of the Rose among them. We have, how- 
ever, some account of its use among the Mohammedan 
Persians. 

Although wine was forbidden by the laws of Mahomet, 
the Persians frequently made use of it ; and in the time 
of Tavernier and of Chardin, they frequently drank it to 
excess. One of their kings, Soliman III., was intoxicated 
almost every day ; and it was the custom then in Persia, 
to serve the wine in crystal decanters, which, when the 
season j)ermitted, they corked with roses. 

The most interesting purpose to which roses were de- 
voted was the adornment of tombs and burial-places. 
The Greeks employed generally for this object, the myrtle 
and the amaranth ; but the Romans gave the preference 
to the lily, the saffron-plant, and, above all, the Rose. 

The ancients were careful to renew the plants which 
were placed around the sepulchral urn, in order that it 
might be surrounded by a continual spring. These flow- 
ers were regarded as sacred, and as a relic of the deceased. 

The Romans considered this pious care so agreeable to 
the spirits of the departed, that wealthy citizens bequeath- 
ed by will entire gardens, to be reserved for furnishing 
their tombs with flowers. They also often ordered that 
their heirs, or those to whom they left fi legacy for the 



THE ROSE CEREMONIES, ETC. 



171 



care of their ashes, should meet together every year, on 
the anniversary of their death, and dine near their tomb, 
scattering roses about the place. This custom is attested 
by several stories of ancient Roman tombs. One with an 
ancient inscription was found at Ravenna, and others in 
some other parts of Italy. 

D'Orbessan, in his " Essal sur les Hoses^'^^ mentions hav- 
ing seen, at Torcello, a city about five miles from Venice, 
an inscription of this kind, mentioning a donation made 
by an emancipated slave to the assembly of the Centum^ 
consisting of gardens and a building to be employed in 
celebrating his obsequies and those of his master. It re- 
quested tliat roses should not be spared, and that food 
should be then distributed in abundance. Generally, the 
donation made on condition of covering the funeral monu- 
ment with roses Avas transferred to another, if that con- 
dition was not fulfilled. Sometimes the most terrible 
maledictions threatened those who dared to violate these 
sacred gardens. That which proves how frequent among 
the Romans was this custom of ornamenting tombs with 
roses is, that those who were not rich enough to make 
such bequests often directed to be engraved upon the 
stone which covered their remains a request to the passers- 
by to scatter roses upon their tomb. Some of these stones 
still exist, with the following inscription : " Sparge^ pre- 
cor^ Hosas supra mea busta^ viator, '^'^ It was, perhaps, 
because they compared the short duration of human life 
to the quick fading existence of the Rose, that this flower 
was devoted to the burial-place of the dead ; and there 
can certainly be chosen no more beautiful emblem of this 
transitory state of existence. This supposition is some- 
what strengthened by the following passage from Jerome, 
one of the early Christian fathers : 

"The ancients scattered roses over the urns of the deceased, and in 
their -wills ordered that these flowers should adorn their graves, and 
should be renewed every year. It was also the custom for husbands to 



172 



PAESOXS OX THE EOSE. 



cast roses, violets, and lilies, on the urns wliicli enclosed the ashes of 
their Avives. These modest flowers were emblematic signs of their 
grief. Our Christians were content to place a Rose among* the ornaments 
of their graves, as the image of life." 

In Turkey, females that died uumarried had a rose 
sculptured at the top of then* monument. 

At the well-kno^n cemetery of Pere la Chaise, which 
has often excited the ecstasy, admiration, or praise of many 
travelers, but which in reality exhibits neither elegance, 
sentiment, nor taste, wreaths of roses and other flowers 
are frequently seen upon the thickly crowded tombs, either 
as mementos of affection, or in compliance with a popular 
custom ; while the street leading to the cemetery is filled 
with shops in which are exposed for sale the wreaths of 
flowers. 

The prevalence of the same custom in Denmark is al- 
luded to by Shakespeare, in Hamlet, m the scene of 
OjDhelia's burial. 

The custom still remains also in America and Great 
Britain. In Wales, when a young girl dies, her female 
com^Danions bring flowers with them to her funeral, and 
place them in her coffin. They plant lilies and snow-drops 
over the graves of children, and wild and cultivated roses 
over those of adults. 

Gwillym, a TTelsh poet, thus speaks of the custom in 
one of bis elegies : — " Oh ! while the season of flowers 
and the tender sprays, thick of leaves, remain, I will pluck 
the roses from the brakes, to be offered to the memorv of 
a child of fairest fame ; humbly will I lay them on the 
grave of Ivor." 

Evelyn tells us that ''the white rose was planted at the 
grave of a virgin, and her chaplet was tied with white 
riband, in token of her spotless innocence ; though some- 
times black ribands were intermingled, to bespeak the 
grief of the survivors. The red rose was occasionally 
used in remembrance of such as had been remarkable for 



THE ROSE IN CEREMONIES, ETC. 



their benevolence ; but roses in general were appropriated 

to the graves of lovers." 

Drunimond, the Scotch poet, requested one of Jiis 

friends to have the following couplet placed over his grave : 

Here Damon lie?, whose songs did sometimes grace 
The murmnring Esk : — may roses shade the j^lace.'' 

The first Christians disapproved of the use of these 
flowers, either at their festivals or as ornaments for their 
tombs, on account of its connection with the pagan my- 
thology, and the custom thus became extinct. Tertullian 
w^rote a book against crowns and garlands. Clement of 
Alexandria thought it improper that Christians should 
crown themselves with roses. A little later, however, 
Christians relaxed from this strictness, and the Christian 
poet Prudence did not fear to invite his brethen " to cover 
with violets and with verdure, and to surround with per- 
fumes those bones which the voice of the AU-Powerful 
would one day restore to life." 

The Roman Catholics of this day admit flowers to their 
churches and ceremonies, and on feast days they adorn 
the altars with bouquets and garlands. At the most im- 
posing of these solemnities, the day of the " Ftte-Dieu^'^ 
rose petals, during the procession, are scattered in the air, 
and blended with the perfume of censers, directed towards 
the Host; in many of the towns, particularly those in the 
south of France and of Europe, the streets through which 
the procession passes are scattered throughout with fra- 
grant herbs and flowers of every kind. 

Since the extinction of paganism in a greater 2:)art of 
the world, the custom of wearing crowns of flowers at fes- 
tivals has passed entirely away. Women only use roses 
as an ornament for their hair, or employ them in diflerent 
parts of their toilet. In our own country the toilet of a 
bride is never considered perfect unless she wears a wreath 
of roses or other flowers, whose snow-white hue is an em- 
blem of her departing maidenhood. Sometimes she is 



174 



PAKSOXS OX THE ROSE. 



provided only with a bouquet of white roses and camel- 
lias, and her bridesmaids wear similar ornaments of na- 
ture's manufacture. 

The Rose is abundantly used by children in their beau- 
tiful celebration of May-day. We well recollect our en- 
joyment of one of these scenes some years since. We 
were returning from a ride in the vicinity of Charleston, 
S. C, on the first day of this, the sunniest of the months 
of spring — a day dedicated not to the spirit of motion, 
and celebrated not by processions of furniture carts, amid 
the bustle and noise of a populous city, but dedicated 
there, at the sunny South, to innocent and joyous festivity, 
and celebrated amid all the fresh and frao-rant luxuriance 
of southern vegetation, surrounded by the delicate sweet- 
ness of the magnolia, the Rose, and other flowers, while 
the mocking-bird, with its sweet and varied note, was the 
minstrel for the occasion. Riding quietly along the road, 
we were suddenly stopped by a procession which had just 
dismounted from a number of carriao'es in a beautiful 
grove hard by. It consisted mostly of noble-looking 
boys and beautiful girls, of all ages under fourteen, the 
latter dressed in white and crowned with wreaths of roses 
and other flowers. The manly attention of the boys to 
the fair creatures with whom they walked hand in hand 
would not have disgraced the gallantry of Bayard, or the 
politeness of Chesterfield. As the procession wound 
slowly from our view, under the shade of the lofty live 
oak and the rich magnolia, we could not help reflecting 
how beautiful was this graceful enjoyment of the sunny 
days of childhood, and how preferable to the mental ex- 
citement and precocious training of many of the infant 
philosophers of this most enlightened nineteenth century. 

It is much to be regretted that in circles where fashion 
reigns supreme, nature is gradually giving way to art, 
and instead of the fresh and natural beauty of a newly 
gathered Rose, various forms of artificial flowers are found 



THE ROSE IX THE MIDDLE AGES. 



175 



upon the center table, or in the hair of those whose quick 
discernment and refined taste should lead them to per- 
ceive the great inferiority of these artificial toys to the 
delicate beauty and welcome fragrance of a Rose just 
from its parent plant. 

Very mucli additional matter could be inserted respect- 
ing the early history of the Rose, and its connection with 
ancient superstitions. Sufiicient, liowever, has been given 
to show the esteem in which the Rose was held by the 
ancient Greeks and Romans. 



CHAPTER XIII. 
THE ROSE m THE MIDDLE AGES. 

In Great Britain, according to Loudon, "one of the 
earliest notices of the Rose occurs in Chaucer, who wrote 
early in the 13th century ; and in the beginning of the 
15th century, there is evidence of the Rose having been 
cultivated for commercial purposes, and of the water dis- 
tilled from it being used to give a flavor to a variety of 
dishes, and to wash the hands at meals — a custom still 
preserved in some of the colleges, and also in many of the 
public halls within the city of London." 

In 1402, Sir William Clopton granted to Thomas 
Smyth a piece of ground called Dokmedwe, in Haustede, 
for the annual payment of a rose to Sir William and his 
heirs, in lieu of all services. The demand for roses for- 
merly was so great, that bushels of them were frequently 
paid by vassals to their lords, both in England and France. 
The single rose, paid as an acknowledgment, was the 
diminutive representation of a bushel of roses — as a single 



176 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



peppercorn, which is still a reserved rent, represents a 
pound of peppercorns — a payment originally of some 
worth, hut descending by degrees to a mere formality. 
Among the new-year gifts presented to Queen Mary in 
1556, was a bottle of rose-water; and in 1570 we find, 
amonrr the items in the account of a dinner of Lord Lei- 
cester, when he was Chancellor of the University of Ox- 
ford, three ounces of rose-water. In an account of a grant 
of a great part of Ely House, Holborne, by the Bishop of 
Ely, to Christopher Ilatton, for twenty-one years, the 
tenant covenants to pay, on midsummer-day, a red rose 
for tlie gate-house and garden, and for the ground (four- 
teen acres) ten loads of hay and £10 per annum; the 
Bishop reserving to himself and successors free access 
through the gate-liouse, for walking in the gardens and 
gathering twenty bushels of roses yearly. In 1597, we 
find Gerard speaking of the Damask rose of Damascus 
and the Cinnamon rose as common in English gardens. 
Hakluyt says that the rose of Damascus was brought to 
England by De Linaker, physician to Henry IX. ; and his 
successor. Sir Richard Weston, who w^rote in 1645, says, 
" We have red roses from France." In the reign of 
James I., the keeper of the robes and jewels at Whitehall, 
among a variety of other offices, had separate salaries al- 
loAved him, "for fire to air the hot-houses, 40s. by the 
year;" and, "for digging and setting of roses, in the 
spring gardens, 40s. by the year." 

It would seem, by these incidents, that previous to the 
seventeenth century, roses were fir from being abundant, 
and indeed were so rare, that a bottle of distilled water 
was a fit present for Royalty, and a few roses an amply 
sufficient rent for house and land. 

In the times of chivalry, the Rose was often an emblem 
that knights were fond of placing in their helmet or shield, 
implying that sweetness should always be the companion 
of courage, and that beauty w^as the only prize worthy of 



THE PvOSE IX THE MIDDLE AGES. 



valor. It was not, however, always taken for such em- 
blems, nor did it always bring to mind pleasant and agree- 
able images, but was often the signal for bloodshed in a 
desolatincr civil war which racred in Ensjland for more than 
thirty years. 

The rival factions of the White and the Hed Rose arose 
in 1452, during the reign of Henry VI., between the 
houses of Lancaster and of York. The Duke of York, a 
descendant of Edward III., claimed that his house i)os- 
sessed a nearer title to the crown tlian the reigning branch, 
lie adopted a irhite rose on his shield, for his device, and 
the reigning monarch, Henry VI., of the house of Lan- 
caster, carried the red rose. After several furious civil 
wars, after having flooded the whole kingdom with blood, 
and after the tragical death of three kings, Henry VII., 
of the hous<3 of Lancaster, re-united, in 1486, the two flim- 
ilies by marrynig Elizabeth, the heiress of the house of 
York. 

The adoption of the red rose, by the house of Lancaster, 
was at a period fir prior to these civil wars. About 1277, 
the Count of Egmont, son of the King of England, and 
who had taken the title of Count of Champagne, was sent 
by the King of France to Provence, with some troops, to 
avenge the murder of William Pentecote, mayor of the 
city, who had been killed in an insurrection. 

When this prince returned into England, after execu- 
ting his orders, he took for liis device the red rose, that 
Thibaut, Count of Brie and of Champagne, liad brought 
from Syria, on his return from the crusade some years 
before. — That Count of Egmont was the head of the 
house of Lancaster, who preserved the red rose on their 
arms, while the house of York, on the other hand, adopted 
the white rose as their device. 

An anecdote is told of the Prince of Bearne, afterwards 
Henry IV. of France, who was not 15 years of age when 
8* 



178 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



Charles IX. came to iSTerae, in 1566, to A^sit the court of 
Navarre. 

The fifteen days that he spent there were marked by 
sports and fetes, of which the young Henry was already 
the chief ornament. Charles IX. loved to practice arch- 
ery ; in providing for him that amusement, they thought 
that none of his courtiers, not even the Duke of Guise, 
who excelled at this sport, Avould venture to prove himself 
more adroit than the monarch. The young Henry, how- 
ever, advanced, and at the first shot, carried off the orange, 
which served for a mark. Accordino; to the rules of the 
sport, he wished, as victor, to shoot first in the next trial ; 
the King opposed it, and repulsed him with warmth; 
Henry stepped back a little, drew his bow, and directed 
the arrow against the breast of his adversary ; the monarch 
quickly took shelter behind the largest of his courtiers, 
and requested them to take away that dangerous little 
cousin." Peace being made, the same sport was continued 
on the following day ; Charles found an excuse for not 
coming. This time the Duke of Guise carried away the 
orange, which he split in two, and no other could be found 
for a mark. 

The young prince perceived a Rose in the bosom of a 
young girl among the spectators, and seizing it, quickly 
placed it on the mark. The Duke shot first, and missed ; 
Henry succeeding him, placed his arrow in the middle of 
the flower, and returned it to the pretty villager with the 
victorious arrow which had pierced it. 

At Salency, a village of France, the Rose is the reward 
of excellent traits of character; they attribute the origin 
of the fete of La Rosiere, in that country, to Medard, 
bishop of Noyou, who lived at the end of the fifteenth, 
and beginning of the sixteenth century, during the reign 
of Clovis. That bishop, who was also Lord of Salency, 
had established a fund, giving a sum of twenty-five livres 
(five dollars), and a crown or hat of roses, to the young 



THE ROSE IX THE MIDDLE AGES. 



179 



girl on his estate who enjoyed the greatest recantation for 
amiability and excellence of character. Tradition states 
that the prelate liimself gave this desired prize to one of 
his sisters, whom the pnblic voice had named to be Rosiere. 
Before the revolntion of 1789, there conld be seen, beneath 
the altar of the chapel of St. Medard, at Salency, a tablet, 
where that bishop was represented in pontifical dress, and 
l^lacing a crown of roses on the head of his sister, who 
was on her knees, with her hair dressed. 

The bishop had set aside, on a j^art of his domain, since 
called the '* Manor of the Rose," an annual rent of twen- 
ty-five livres, at that time a considerable sum, for j^aying 
all the expenses of this ceremony. It is stated that Louis 
XIII., being at the chateau of Varennes, near Salency, 
about the time of this ceremony, was deirous of adding 
to its eclat by his personal presence ; but finding himself 
indisposed, he sent to La Rosiere, by a marquis of rank 
and first captain of liis guards, a ring and his blue ribbon. 
" Go," said he to the marquis, " and present this riband 
to her who shall be crowned. It has been long the prize 
of honor ; it shall now become the reward of virtue." 
Since that time La Rosiere has received a ring, and she 
and her companions have worn the blue ribbon. 

The Lord of Salency at one time enjoyed the right of 
choosing La Rosiere from three of the village girls, who 
were presented by the inhabitants. But in 1773 a new 
lord, who purchased the estate of Salency, wished to take 
away the right enjoyed by the inhabitants, of naming and 
l)resenting to him the three candidates for the Rose. He 
assumed the nomination of La Rosiere, w^ithout any as- 
sembling, election, or presentation, and suppressed entirely * 
the pomp and ceremonies whicli until that time had al- 
ways been observed. On the comj^laint of the inhabit- 
ants of Salency, the Court of Chancery at once set aside 
the pretensions of their lord ; but he, not wishing to yield 
them, instituted a civil process before the Parliament of 



180 



PARSOXS OX THE ROSE. 



Paris, which gave a decree in favor of the inhabitants of 
the place, by which it confirmed to them all the ancient 
customs of the fete of La Rosiere, of Vy'hich the Lord of 
Salency Avas ordered to pay all the expenses. 

The ceremony of La Rosiere was suppressed during 
the excesses of the Revolution, but was reestablished 
when the times had become more quiet. The celebration 
takes jDlace in June, and would be well worthy the at- 
tendance of foreig^n travelers. 

"VVe have mentioned this custom very much in detail, 
as it is one of the few ceremonies still existing, in which 
the Rose occupies a prominent position, and is made alone 
the reward of merit. Other festivals of the Rose, similar 
to those of Salency, were established in several other vil- 
lao'es of France and the neio:hborino; countries. When 
Louis XVIIL was staying at Blakenbourg, in Germany, 
during the years of his exile, he was invited to assist at a 
festival of La Rosiere. "When he had placed the crown 
on the head of the young girl who was designated as the 
most virtuous, she said to him, ingenuously, " My Prince, 
may your crown be restored you." 

There exists a touching custom in the valley of Enga- 
dine, in SAvitzerland. If a man accused of a crime is able 
to. justify himself the same day on which he is liberated 
from prison, a young and beautiful girl offers him a white 
rose, called the Rose of Innocence. 

It is somewhat singular that, although the Rose was in 
tliese instances employed as the emblem of virtue and in- 
nocence, it has been considered, at other times and places, 
as a sim of diss^race and dishonor. 

The synod held at Xismes, about the year 1284, order- 
ed the Jev>^s to wear on their breast a rose, to distinguish 
them from Christians, in order that they might not rex3eive 
the same attentions. At one time, in certain German 
provinces, a crown of red roses was the punishment of 
immorality. 



THE KOSE IX THE MIDDLE AGES. 



181 



It appears that, in the Middle Ages, roses were much 
more abmidantly cultivated in certain provinces than they 
have been since ; for the following passage is found in 
Marchangy's History of Franco in the 14th century : 
" For the ornament of certain festivals, they cultivate, in 
the vicinity of Rouen, fields of flowers of several rods ; 
and the annual sale of bouquets and wreaths of roses is 
valued at 50,000 francs. The business of maker of 
wreaths^ and that of rose merchant^ is in France very 
common and very i:)rofitable. The above sum will not 
seem surprising, when we think of the enormous consump- 
tion of rose-water at that time. In all family parties, 
companies, and associations, many bouquets Avere present- 
ed ; at table, during festivals, they crowned themselves 
with flowers, and scattered them on the table-cloth and 
the floor." 

The Marquis de Chesnel, in liis History of the Rose, 
mentions that, among the old customs of Auvergne, An- 
jou, Tours, Lodunois, and Maine, there was one in the no- 
ble families, that a father who had sons, frequently gave 
to his daughters, on their marriage, only a wreath of 
roses. In J^ormandy, also, the daughters received, for 
their legitimate portion, a hat adorned with the same 
flowers. Amono; the ancient seimiorial rigjhts in France, 
in the 14th century, was one by which each tenant was 
obho^ed to furnish a bushel of roses for the manufacture 
of rose-water for the lord of the soil. Madame de Genlis 
mentions, however, that about the same period, every one 
was not allowed to cultivate these flowers; but permission 
to do so was granted to privileged persons. Whether it 
was ever a royal monopoly she does not state ; but it 
would certainly be no more singular than the monopoly 
of the sale of butter by the King of Naples. 

We have already mentioned the wars of the White and 
Red Rose, which during so long a time deluged England 
with blood. There is also an instance in French history, 



182 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



where this flower, associated as it is with innocence and 
pleasant tbouglits, served, under the reign of Charles VI., 
as the rallying sign of the faction of Burgundy against 
that of Armagnac. The Parisians, urged by the agents 
of the Duke of Burgundy, established the order of St. 
Andre for their partisans, in order to manage them more 
easily ; and the church of St. Eustache was chosen as 
their rendezvous. Each church member wore a crown of 
red roses, of which more than seven hundred were made 
in the space of twelve hours, and the flowers were suf- 
ficiently abundant to perfume the whole church. 

According to an ancient custom, the dukes and peers of 
France were formerly obliged to present roses to the Par- 
liament of Paris, at certain periods of its session. The 
peer who was chosen to do the honors of this ceremony 
caused all the chambers of Parliament to be scattered with 
roses, flowers, and fragrant herbs ; and entertained at a 
splendid breakfast the presidents, councilors, and even the 
notaries and door-keepers of the court. He afterwards 
went into each chamber, accompanied by a page with a 
large silver basin, which contained as many bouquets of 
roses and other flowers as there were public oflicers, with 
an equal number of crowns composed of the same flow^ers. 
The Parliament also had its cultivator of roses, called the 
Hosier de la Cow\ from whom the peers could obtain the 
roses for their presents. 

Under the reign of Francis I., in 1541, there was a dis- 
pute between the Due de Montpensier and the Due de 
Nevers respecting the present age of the roses to Parlia- 
ment. It was decided that the Due de Montpensier, from 
his rank as prince of the blood, should be entitled to 
the first present age. Among the princes of the royal 
family who submitted to this ceremony at later periods, 
are numbered the dukes of Vendome, Beaumont, Angou- 
leme, and several other distinguished names. Henry IV., 
while only King of ^favarre, proved to the procureur- 



THE KOSE IN THE MIDDLE AGES. 



183 



general that neither he nor his predecessors had ever fail- 
ed to perform that duty. 

About the yenr 1631, there was published a very curious 
book on the Rose, by a German named Rosenberg. 
About 250 octavo pages are devoted entirely to the praise 
of the curative properties of the Rose in almost every 
known disease, making, in fact, this flower a universal 
panacea for the many ills to which flesh is heir. The au- 
thor also claims for it supernatural qualities, particularly 
for driving away evil spirits. The work closes by assert- 
ing, as a positive fact, supported by several authorities 
which he quotes, the remarkable regeneration or resurrec- 
tion of the Rose. He gives also the process of this re- 
production, Avhich is scarcely worth inserting here, being, 
like the story of the Phoenix, a fable engendered by super- 
stition upon ignorance. It is somewhat surprising that 
this fable should have been very gravely reproduced, in a 
French work on the Rose, published in 1800. The author 
states that, "notwithstanding the many marvelous things 
which we already know respecting the improving, forcing, 
changing, and multiplying of roses, we have yet to de- 
scribe the most surprising of all — that of its regeneration ; 
or, in other Avords, the manner of reproducing that flower 
from its own ashes. This is called the imperial secret^ be- 
cause the Emperor Ferdinand III. purchased it of a foreign 
chemist, at a very high price." The conclusion is a rather 
amusing instance of Munchausenism in the 19th century. 
" Finally, all this material being placed in a glass vessel, 
with a certain quantity of pure dew, forms a blue powder, 
from which, when heat is applied, there springs a stem, 
leaves, and flowers, and a Avhole and perfect plant is form- 
ed from its own ashes." 

It is difficult to credit the fact that, in any part of this 
enlightened age, an author could be found Avho would 
gravely and in sincerity advance such opinions and state 
such facts as the above ; and it is but an additional proof, 



184 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



if such were wanting, that nothing can be advanced too 
monstrous or too incredible to be entirely without be- 
lievers. 

If the sight of roses, or their delicate fragrance, has 
been generally delightful and pleasing, there have also 
been those who could not endure them. Anne of Austria, 
wife of Louis XIII., of France, although otherwise very 
fond of perfumes, had such an antipathy to the rose, that 
she could not bear the sight of one even in a painting. 
The Duke of Guise had a still stronger dislike, for he al- 
ways made his escape at the sight of a rose. Dr. Ladelius 
mentions a man who was obliged to become a recluse, and 
dared not leave his house, during the season of roses ; be- 
cause, if he happened to imbibe their fragrance, he was 
immediately seized with a violent cold in his head. 

The odor of the rose, like that of many other flowers, 
has often occasioned serious injury, particularly in closed 
apartments ; and persons to whose sensitive organizations 
the odor is disagreeable should not sleep with them in the 
chamber. Some authors of credibility mention instances 
of death caused by a large quantity of roses being left 
during the night in a sleeping apartment. 



rERFUMES OF THE EOSE. 



185 



CHAPTER XIV. 
PERFUMES OF THE ROSE.. 

At an early period in tlie cultivation of the Rose, and 
after its admission among the luxuries of the wealthy, 
human skill was exerted to extract its delightful perfume. 

Several authors have considered the invention of the 
essence of the Rose very ancient, and have even traced it 
back as far as the siege of Troy, This, however, can 
scarcely be admitted, for nothing relating to the essence 
or essential oil of roses can be found in Homer, or in any 
other author for many subsequent years. The discovery 
of these valuable articles of commerce was made at a 
much later period. If the essential oil of roses had been 
known to the ancient Greeks or Romans, it would proba- 
bly have been more particularly mentioned by Pliny, and 
the mode of preparation even would have been described. 
In speaking, however, of various perfumes, he says noth- 
ing of any distillation from the j^etals of the Rose, but 
simply mentions that, as early as the siege of Troy, the 
expressed jnice of roses was known, and being mixed with 
a delicate oil, formed an agreeable perfume. 

In speaking of artificial oils in general, Pliny also ob- 
serves that the oil of roses was made by simply steeping 
the rose-petals in oil. According to the same author, oil 
was the body of nearly all the perfumes used at that day, 
and for a perfuming substance, roses were most frequent- 
ly used, because they grew everywhere in the greatest 
abundance. 

Perfumes of every kind were more abundantly used 
among the ancient Greeks and Romans than at the pres- 
ent day. Athenceus, in his JFecist of Wise Jlen^ states 



186 



PARSONS OX THE ROSE. 



that nearly all of these were drawn from the Rose, and 
says that the most sweet were those of Cyrene, while 
those of Naples, Capua, and Faseoli were the best and 
most delightful of all. 

This agrees with the subsequent researches made on 
the same subject by D'Orbessan. " The cities of Naple^^, 
Capua, and Preneste," says the latter, "obtained their 
roses from Campania, where there is yet a considerable 
tract of land, commonly called II mazzone delle Hose. 

" This field is sometimes called Hosetinus^ on account 
of the prodigious quantity of roses which grow there 
without culture, and in greater abundance than in any 
other section of that country." 

Athenaeus states that the perfume of roses was frequent- 
ly used in culinary preparations, and gives a curious re- 
ceipt for a sort of pot-pourri^ made by the cook of the 
King of Sicily. " This is what I call potted roses^ and it is 
thus prepared : I first pound some of the most fragrant 
roses in a mortar ; then I take the brains of birds and 
pigs, well boiled and stripped of every particle of meat ; 
I then add the yolks of some eggs, some oil, a little cor- 
dial, some pepper, and some wine : after having beaten 
and mixed it well together, I throw it in a new pot, and 
place it over a slow but steady fire." " As he said these 
things," so runs the story, " the cook uncovered the pot, 
and there issued forth a most delicious fragrance, perfum- 
ing the whole dining-hall, and overcoming the guests with 
delight." This is a point in gastronomic luxury to which 
Americans have not yet attained. 

Although the perfume of roses was considered more 
choice than any other, it was frequently used when men 
were least in the state to enjoy it; for D'Orbessan states 
that slaves were made to burn it around their masters 
while sleeping. 

If the essential oil of roses had been known in the time 
of Pliny, that author would have mentioned it among the 



PERFUMES OF THE EOSE. 



187 



most esteemed and ^^recious perfumes. So far from this, 
however, he only speaks of the " Royal Perfume," so 
called because it was prepared expressly for the King of 
the Parthians. This Avas composed of the oil of Ben, an 
Arabian tree, with several aromatic substances. Accord- 
ing to Langles, w^ho has carefully examined a great num- 
ber of oriental works, no writer, previous to the sixteentli ^ 
century, has mentioned the essential oil of roses, although 
these flowers abounded at that time, and mention is made 
of rose-water as an agreeable perfume. Besides these 
negative proofs against the ancient existence of this per- 
fume, Langles quotes several oriental historians, from 
which it seems evident that its discovery dates about the 
year 1612, and was owing entirely to accident. 

According to Father Catron, in his History of the 
Mogul Empire^ in the fetes which the sultana Nourmahal 
gave to the great Mogul, Jehan-guire, their chief j^leasure 
was sailins: tos^ether in a canal which Nourmahal had 
filled with rose-water. 

One day that the Emperor was thus sailing with Nour- 
mahal, they perceived a sort of froth forming and floating 
upon the water. They drew it out, and perceived that it 
was the essential oil w^hich the heat of the sun had disen- 
gaged from the water and collected together on the sur- 
face. Tlie whole seraglio pronounced the perfume the 
most exquisite known in the Indies ; and they immediate- 
ly endeavored to imitate by art that which nature had 
made. Thus was discovered the essence, essential oil, 
otto, or attar of roses. 

According to Langles, the word AH7iei\ A''thr^ or Othr^ 
which the Arabs, Turks, and Persians use to designate 
the essential oil of Roses without adding the name of 
that flower, is Arabic, and signifies perfume. It is neces- 
sary, the same author states, to recollect the distinction 
between AHher^ or AHher gul and gulab^ which is simply 
rose-water. 



188 



PAKSOKS OX THE EOSE. 



From the very small quantity congealed on the surface 
of the water, the manufacture is limited, and the cost of 
the article immense. Langles states that the rose-water is 
left exposed to the freshness of the night, and in the 
morning a very small quantity of attar is found collected 
on the surface. 

Dr. Monro, according to Loudon, gives the manner of 
making the attar in Cashmere, which is apparently more 
simple, without the tedious process of distilling. 

" The rose-petals are put into a wooden vessel with pure 
water, and exposed for several days to the heat of the 
sun. The oily particles, being disengaged by the heat, 
float upon the surface of the water, whence they are taken 
up from time to time by applying to them some very fine 
dry cotton wool. From this wool the oil is pressed into 
little bottles, which are immediately afterwards sealed 
hermetically." 

Another method is, exposing the rose-water to heat, 
then suddenly cooling it, and collecting the drops of con- 
gealed oil which float upon the surface. 

Bishop Heber describes the method used in India, which 
is very similar to that of Langles. The attar has the con- 
sistency of butter, and never becomes liquid except in the 
warmest weather. 

Loudon states that " a wretched substitute for otto of 
roses is said to be formed by the apothecaries of Paris. 
The petals of Hosa Damascena are boiled in a large cal- 
dron of water alons; with as much hose's lard as will cover 
its surface with a thin stratum of grease. The oil of the 
rose-petals, on separating from them by boiling, unites 
with this grease, from which it is again separated by spir- 
its of wine." A large portion of the attar imported into 
the United States is probably of this manufacture. 

The quantity of genuine attar produced from a given 
weight of rose-petals is not always the same ; it is very 
liable to vary according to the nature of the climate, the 



PERFUMES OF THE ROSE. 



189 



temperature of different seasons, the period of bloom at 
which the roses are picked, the process of manufacture, 
and the skill of the manufacturers. Generally, a hundred 
pounds of roses will scarcely produce a drachm of attar, 
sometimes only half a drachm, and at others a drachm 
and a half. Bishop Heber states that in India, at Gbaze- 
poor, two hundred thousand well-grown roses are requir- 
ed to produce one rupee's (165 grains) weight of attar. 
The calyx is somethnes used with the petal, but as the oil 
of that contains little or no perfume, although it may in- 
crease the quantity of attar, it must sensibly weaken its 
properties. 

The color of attar is generally green, sometimes lemon 
or rose color, and occasionally brownish. These differ- 
ences in color are owing to the various i3rocesses of manu- 
facture, and the different periods at which the roses are 
picked. The attar is prepared in Barbary, Syria, Arabia, 
Persia, India, in the island of Scio, at Fayoum, in Egypt, 
at Tunis, and many other places in the East. That made 
in Syria and Barbary is considered very inferior ; while 
the best is made in Chyraz, Kerman, and Cashmere. In 
some 23arts of France and Italy it is also prepared, but in 
comparatively small quantities. 

The attar is very costly, although not so dear as for- 
merly. The French traveler, Tavernier, who visited Ispa- 
han about the year 1666, stated that the price of attar at 
Chyraz rose and fell every year on account of the unequal 
produce of flowers ; and that an ounce of that article 
sold, at one period, for ten tomans (about ninety-two 
dollars). 

^ At the time another Frenchman, Chardin, traveled in 
Persia, some years after Tavernier, the attar was some- 
times much higher. He states that forty pounds of rose- 
water were required to produce half a drachm of attar, 
an ounce of which sometimes sold in India for two hund- 
red ecus. Langles states that in India half an ounce of 



190 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE. 



attar is worth about forty dollars. Bishop Heber also 
speaks of its enormous price at Ghazepoor, where the 
variation in price is also very great, being, according to 
Langles, sometimes as low as eight dollars an ounce. 

At one time, soon after its discovery, it was valued at 
about five times its weight in gold. Until quite recently, 
it was worth its weight in gold, but now sells in Paris for 
about one quarter that value. 

Attar is rarely found pure in commerce ; it is always 
more or less adulterated. In the countries where it is 
manufactured, they frequently increase the quantity of 
the attar by mixing scrapings of sandal-wood with the 
rose-petals during the process of distillation. Kaempfer, 
a German writer, states this mode of adulteration to have 
been known a long time, and adds that the sandal-wood 
gives additional strength to the attar ; but another au- 
thor, who has also made some researches on the subject, 
asserts that the sandal-wood injures the delicacy of the 
attar, which is more sweet and agreeable when mild than 
when strong. - 

The quality as well as the quantity of attar which they 
obtain from roses depends upon the proportion of aroma 
which they contain ; and this is found more developed at 
the South, and in a warm climate. The kinds of roses 
used in distillation have also a great influence on the 
quality of the attar. In Persia and the East, the Musk 
Rose is generally used, and the Damask is emj)loyed in 
France. 

Although roses are distilled in large quantities at Paris 
for perfumery and for medical purposes, very little attar 
is made, because the proportion of the manufactured ar- 
ticle to the roses required is, in that climate, extremely 
small ; so small, in fact, that, according to one writer, five 
thousand parts in weight of rose-petals will scarcely pro- 
duce one part of essential oil. This limited manufacture 



PEEFUMES OF THE BOSE. 



101 



exists only at Grasse and Montpelier, in France, and at 
Florence, in Italy. 

Some years since, the adulteration of attar was success- 
fully practiced in the south of France by mixing with it 
the essence distilled from the leaves of the Rose Gerani- 
um {Pelargonium capitatum). This adulteration is very 
difficult to detect, because this last essence possesses the 
same properties as the attar ; its odor is almost the same ; 
like that, it is of a lemon color ; it crystalizes at a lower 
temperature ; and its density is very little greater. 

The attar, when j)ure, is, beyond comparison, the most 
sweet and agreeable of all perfumes. Its fragrance is the 
most delicate conceivable, and equals that of the freshly 
expanded Rose. It is also so strong and penetrating, 
that a single drop, or as much as will attach itself to the 
point of a needle, is sufficient to perfume an apartment for 
several days ; and if the small flask in which it is sold, 
although tightly corked and sealed, is placed in a drawer, 
it will i^erfume all the contents. 

When in a congealed or crystalized state, the attar will 
liquefy at a slight heat ; and if the flask is merely held in 
the hand, a few minutes will suffice to render it liquid. 
In the East much use is made of the attar, particularly in 
the harems. In Europe and America it is employed in 
the manufacture of cordials, and in the preparation of 
various kinds of perfumery. 

Rose-water, or the liquid obtained from rose-petals by 
distillation, is very common, and is found in almost every 
country where the arts and luxuries of life have at all 
advanced. 

Pliny tells us that rose-water was a favorite perfume of 
the Roman ladies, and the most luxurious used it even in 
their baths. This, however, must have been some prepa- 
ration difierent from that now known as rose-water, and 
was probably a mere tincture of roses. 

The ancients could have known nothing of rose-water. 



192 



PAESOXS OlS^ THE ROSE. 



for they were entirely ignorant of the art. of distillation, 
which only came into j^ractice after the invention of the 
alembic by the Arabs. Some attribute this discovery to 
Rhazes, an Arabian physician, who lived in the early part 
of the tenth century; and others attribute it to Avicenna, 
who lived at Chyraz, in the latter part of the same cen- 
tury. It is also attributed to Geber, a celebrated Arabian 
alchemist, who lived in Mesopotamia in the eighth cen- 
tury. Subsequent, therefore, to this discovery of the 
alembic, we find, according to Gmelin, in his history of 
the preparation of distilled waters, that the first notice 
of rose-water is by Aben-Zohar, a Jewish physician, of 
Seville, in Spain, who recommends it for diseases of the 
eye. From the Arabs, this invention passed among the 
Greeks and Romans, as we are informed by Actuarius, a 
writer of the eleventh or twelfth century. 

In France, the first distillation of rose-water appears to 
have been made by Arnaud de Villeneuve, a physician, 
who lived in the latter part of the thirteenth century. 

The Orientals made great use of this water in various 
ways in their houses, and in the purification of their tem- 
ples when they thought they had been profaned by any 
other worship than that of Mahomet. There are many 
anecdotes told by historians of the use of rose-water by 
the Sultans on various occasions ; and several of these, as 
Chateaubriand remarks, are stories worthy of the East. 
It is related of Saladin, that when he took Jerusalem from 
the Crusaders, in 1187, he would not enter the Mosque of 
Omar, which had been converted into a church by the 
. Christians, until the walls and courts had been thorough- 
ly washed and purified with rose-water brought from Da- 
mascus. Five hundred camels, it is stated, were scarcely 
sufiicient to convey all the rose-water used for this pur- 
pose. An Arabian writer tells us that the princes of the 
family of Saladin, hastening to Jerusalem to worship 
Allah, Malek- Abdul, and his nephew, Taki-Eddin, distin- 



PERFCJMES OF THE ROSE. 



193 



guished themselves above all others. The latter repaired 
with all his followers to the " Chapel of the Holy Cross," 
and taking a broom himself, he swept all the dirt from 
the floor, washed the walls and the ceiling several times 
with pure water, and then washed them with rose-water ; 
having thus cleansed and purified the place, he distribu- 
ted large alms to the poor. 

Bibars, the fourth Sultan of the Mameluke dynasty, 
who reigned from lr260 to 1277, tiaused the Caaba of the 
temple of Mecca to be washed with rose-water. 

Mahomet IT., after the capture of Constantinople, in 
1453, would not enter the Mosque of St. Sophia, which 
had been formerly used as a church, until he had caused 
it to be washed with rose-water. 

It is stated by a French historian that the greatest dis- 
play of gorgeous magnificence at that period was made in 
1611, by the Sultan Ahmed I., at the dedication of the 
new Caaba, which had been built or repaired at his ex- 
pense ; amber and aloes were burnt in . profusion, and, in 
the extravagance of Eastern language, oceans of rose- 
water were set afloat, for washing the courts and interior 
surface of the walls. Rose-water is by no means so gen- 
erally used now as for a few hundred years subsequent to 
its invention. In France, during the reign of Philip Au- 
gustus, it was a necessary article at court. It was for- 
merly the custom to carry large vases filled with rose-water 
to baptisms. Illustrating this custom, Bayle relates a 
story of Rousard, the French poet : " It nearly happened 
that the day of his birth was also that of his death ; for 
when he was carried from the Chateau de La Poissoniere 
to the church of the i:)lace to be baptized, the nurse who 
carried him carelessly let him fall ; his fall, however, was 
upon the grass and flowers, which received him softly ; it 
so happened, that a young lady, who carried a vase filled 
with rose-water and a collection of flowers, in her haste 
to aid in helping the child, overturned on his head a large 
9 



194 



PAESOXS OX THE EOSE. 



part of the rose-water. This incident was considered a 
presage of the good odor with which France would one 
day be filled by the flowers of his learned writings." 

At one time rose-water was largely consumed in the 
preparation of food and the seasoning of various dishes. 
In the " Private Life of the French," it is mentioned that 
in the fourteenth century, the Comte d'Etampes gave a 
feast in which a large part of the dishes and even the 
chestnuts were prepared with rose-water. It is still used 
to flavor various dishes, but its principal use is in afi*ec- 
tions of the eyelids, or as a perfume for the toilet. The 
principal consumption of rose-water is, however, in the 
East, where the inhabitants are very fond of perfumes. 
In Persia a very large quantity is made annually for do- 
mestic use. They deem it an excellent beverage mixed 
Avith pure water. 

The Corinth Grape, mixed with rose-water, and a slight 
infusion of spices, is the nectar so much in vogue among 
the Greeks of Morea. The Persians, according to Le- 
bruyn, sprinkle with rose-water those who visit them. 
They also make it an important article of commerce; 
large quantities are sent to different parts of the East, 
and entire cargoes are sometimes shipped to India. 

In Egypt, the nobles and wealthy inhabitants consume 
large quantities of rose-water ; they scatter it over their 
divans and other places where they spend their time; they 
also offer it with confectionery to their visitors. 

The custom of offering rose-water to a guest is alluded 
to by Shakespeare, who makes one of his characters in 
Padua say : 

" What is it your honor wiU command ? 
Let one attend him with, a silver bason 
Full of rose-vjater^ and "bestrewed with flowers." 

Almost all the rose-water used in Egypt is distilled in 
the province of Fayoum, from the pale rose. "About the 
middle of February, in Fayoum," says a French writer, 



PEKFUMES OF THE ROSE. 



195 



''they pluck the roses every morning before sunrise, 
while the dew is yet upon them ; they then place them 
immediately in the alembic, not allowing them to become 
dry or heated by remaining too long a time without dis- 
tillation. This lucrative branch of manufacture has not 
escaped the monopoly of Mehemet Ali. 'No private indi- 
vidual can now distil roses in Egypt, and those who culti- 
vate them are obliged to sell the petals to government at 
a low price. The value of all the rose-water distilled in 
Fayoum, annually, is estimated at 50,000 or 60,000 francs." 
Of the profusion with which rose-water is used in India, 
some idea may be formed from the narrative of Bishop 
Heber, who was shown, in the ruins of the palace of 
Ghazepoor, a deep trench round an octagonal platform of 
blue, red, and white mosaic pavement. This trench, he 
was told, was filled with rose-water when the i^awab and 
his friends were feasting in the middle. " The ancient oil 
of roses," according to Loudon, " is obtained by bruising 
fresh rose-petals, mixing them with four times their 
weight of olive oil, and leaving them in a sand-heat for 
two days. If the red Rose of Provence is used, the oil is 
said to imbibe no odor ; but if the petals of pale roses are 
employed, it becomes perfumed. This preparation was 
celebrated among the ancients. Pliny says that, accord- 
ing to Homer, roses were macerated for their oil in the 
time of the Trojans. The oil is chiefly used for the hair, 
and is generally sold in perfumers' shops, both in France 
and England, under the name of J^'^huile antique de Hose,^^ 

Spirit of roses is made by distilling rose-petals with a 
small quantity of spirits of wine, and forms an agreeable 
article for external applications. The green leaves of the 
sweet-brier are sometimes, in France, steeped in spirits of 
wine to impart a fragrance ; and in England they are fre- 
quently used to flavor cowslip wine. 

As the 23etals of the rose ^^reserve their fragrance for a 
long time after being dried, many are in the habit of mak- 



196 



PARSOISrS ON THE KOSE. 



ing, annually, little bags filled with them. These, being 
placed in a drawer or wardrobe, impart an agreeable per- 
fume to the linen or clothing with which they may come 
in contact. The petals can be obtained from almost any 
garden in sufiicient quantity for this purpose, and can be 
dried by the process mentioned hereafter. The confec- 
tioners, distillers, and perfumers of France draw from the 
Rose a part of their perfumes, particularly from Da- 
mascena^ and H, centifolia^ in fixing their sweet odors in 
sugar-plums, creams, ices, oils, pomatum, essences, and 
fragrant powders. 

The petals of the Rose, after being freshly picked and 
bruised in a marble mortar, until they are reduced to a 
sort of paste, are employed in the preparation of different 
kinds of confectionery. Of this paste the French also 
make little perfume balls of the size of a pea. They are 
made round in the same manner as pills, and before* be- 
coming hard, they are pierced with a needle and strung 
on a piece of silk. In a little while they become hard 
like wood, assume a brownish color, and emit a delightful 
perfume. This rose scent continues very long, and one 
writer remarks that he has known a necklace made in this 
style, possess, at the end of twenty-five years, as strong a 
perfume as when first made. 

In Great Britain, in the vicinity of the large cities, and 
in many private gardens, the flowers are gathered for 
making rose-water or for drying as perfumes. In Hol- 
land, the Dutch hundred-leaved and common cabbage rose 
are grown extensively at Noordwich, between Leyden 
and Haarlem, and the dried leaves are sent to Amsterdam 
and Constantinople. In France, the Provence Rose is ex- 
tensively cultivated near the town of Provence, about sixty 
miles south-east of Paris, and also at Fontenay aux Roses, 
near Paris, for the manufacture of rose-water, or for ex- 
portation in a dried state. The petals of the Provence 
Rose {Bosa Gallica) are the only ones that are said to 



PEEFUMES OF THE KOSE. 



19T 



gain additional fragrance in drying ; all the other varie- 
ties losing in this process more or less of their perfume. 
A French writer states, that apothecaries employ both 
pale and red roses ; the pale give more perfume, while the 
red keep the longer. 

Loudon states that " the petals of roses ought always 
to be gathered as soon as the flower is fully expanded ; 
and the o^atherino; should never be deferred until it has 
begun to fade, because, in the latter case, the petals are 
not only discolored, but weakened in their perfume and 
their medical properties. They should be immediately 
separated from the calyx, and the claws of the petals 
pinched off; they are then dried in the shade, if the 
weather is dry and warm, or by a stove in a room, if the 
season is humid, care being taken, in either qase, not to 
spread them on the ground, but on a platform raised two 
or three feet above it. The drying should be conducted 
expeditiously, because it has been found that slowly dried 
petals do not exhale near so much odor as those which 
have been dried quickly, which is also the case with hay, 
sweet herbs, and odoriferous vegetables generally. After 
the petals are dried, they are freed from any sand, dust, or 
eggs of insects which may adhere to them, by shaking 
them and rubbing them gently in a fine sieve. After this, 
the petals are put into close vessels, from which the air is 
excluded, and which are kept in a dry, airy situation. 

" As it is extremely difficult to free the rose-petals en- 
tirely from the eggs of insects, they are taken out of 
these vessels two or three times a year, placed in sieves, 
rubbed, cleaned, and replaced." 

I have been careful to give the details of the above 
process, because it may be useful to those who embark ex- 
tensively in the cultivation of roses for the exportation of 
petals in a dried state. We should suppose that rose- 
petals produced in this latitude, where the Rose has a 
long period of hibernation, would produce more perfume, 



198 



PAESOXS ON THE ROSE. 



and be more valuable in a dried state than those grown 
under the tropics. The Provence and Damask Rose are 
both known to succeed well here, and to produce abund- 
ant flowers. Their fragrance is unsurpassed, and our 
summer's sun would be abundantly sufficient to dry the 
petals without any artificial heat. It is not too much to 
hope that the attention of our cultivators may yet be di- 
rected to this subject, and that the manufacture of rose- 
water and the preparation of dried petals may yet be an 
important branch of domestic industry, and form an im- 
portant addition to the list of exported articles. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE MEDICAL PliOPERTIES OF THE ROSE. 

We have hitherto viewed the Rose as the chief orna- 
ment of our gardens, and if we have found it abounding 
with charms of fragrance and beauty, we shall now find 
it occupying a prominent place in Materia Medica. Some 
authors have, with a degree of exaggeration, endeavored 
to make its medical as brilliant as its floral reputation. 
Rosenberg, in his work on the Rose, makes it a specific in 
every disease, and even attributes to it supernatural 
virtues. 

In the opinion of most medical men, the medicinal proper- 
ties of the Rose are about the same in all the kinds, while 
some writers assert that the Rosa Gallica is superior to 
all others in a greater or less degree. We will mention 
those principally used in medicine, and the properties 
which are ^specially attributed to each. 

The most valuable properties of the Rose reside in its 



THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ROSE. 199 



petals, and in order to preserve these properties, it is 
highly essential that the petals should be quickly and per- 
fectly dried. Those of the Provence Rose {Hosa Gallica) 
have an astringent and somewhat bitter taste, and are 
tonic and astrins^ent in their effects. 

According to an analysis recently made in France, they 
contain, besides vegetable matter and essential oil, a jDor- - 
tion of gallic acid, coloring matter, albumen, tannin, some 
salts, with a base of jDotash or of chalk, silex, and oxide 
of iron. A small dose in powder strengthens the stomach 
and assists digestion. Their prolonged use will sometimes 
cause a slight constipation of the bowels, while in a much 
stronger dose they act as purgatives. 

The conserve of the Provence Rose has much reputa- 
tion in France for the treatment of all chronic affections 
of the bowels, caused by weakness and inactivity of the 
digestive organs ; it is also employed in colic, in diarrhoea, 
in cases of hemorrha2:e and leucorrhoea. 

The conserve of any variety of roses is considered ex- 
cellent in cases of cold or catarrh. It is prepared by 
bruising in a mortar the petals with their weight in sugar, 
and moistening them with a little rose-water, until the 
whole forms a homogeneous mass. Some receipts pre- 
scribe powdered petals mixed with an equal part of 
sugar; others direct to use two layers of sugar, and only 
one layer of pulverized petals. 

Opoix, a physician of Provence, states that the true Rose 
of Provence has a more sweet and penetrating fragrance 
than the same rose grown elsewhere, and even goes so far 
as to say that it has acquired properties which it does not 
possess in its native country, the Caucasus. On account 
of the supposed superior qualities of this rose, the citizens 
of Provence, in 1807, addressed a petition to government 
to encourage in their territory the cultivation of the true 
Provence Rose, by giving it the preference in all the hos- 
pitals and military dispensaries. This gave rise to a dis- 



200 



PAKSOIS^S O^^^ THE EOSE. 



cussion between two French chemists, but without decid- 
ing the fact whether the Hosa Gcdlica was superior in 
medical properties to any other rose. It seems to be ac- 
knowledged that those cultivated at Provence were superi- 
or to the same kind grown elsewhere, and this superiority 
is attributed by some to the presence of iron in the soil 
about that city. It was jDrobably owing, also, to the very 
careful cultivation practiced there. The petals are used 
extensively in several medical preparations, as the sugar 
of roses, the ointment of roses, the treacle of roses, etc. 
Rose-water is, however, more extensively used in medi- 
cine than any other preparation of the rose. This water, 
when manufactured from Hosa Gallica^ or any other of 
the section of Ceyitifolioe^ is employed internally as an 
astringent, and is sometimes mixed with other medicines 
to destroy their disagreeable smell and taste. In external 
r applications, it is used principally for affections of the 
eyes, either alone or with some ointment. 

The alcoholic tincture of roses^ or spirit of roses, before 
mentioned, which was formerly given as a stimulus in 
many cases, has now fallen very much into disuse, medi- 
cal opinion being very much against the employment of 
any alcoholic medicines excepting in very rare cases. 

The syrup o/* ro565, manufactured from the pale or Dam- 
ask Rose, is sometimes employed as a purgative, and was 
once highly esteemed and recommended as a mild laxa- 
tive. It is now, however, scarcely considered purgative, 
and its laxative properties are probably owing in a great 
measure to the senna and other articles which enter into 
its preparation. 

The electuary of roses ^ which is now no longer used, 
was also probably indebted for its medical qualities to the 
addition of scammony, a very strong purgative. 

Vinegar of roses is made by simply infusing dried 
rose-petals in the best distilled vinegar, to which they 
communicate their perfume. It is used for cooking and 



THE MEDICAL PROPERTIES OF THE ROSE. 201 

for the toilet, and for headaches, when applied in the 
same way as common vinegar. The ancients prepared 
this vinegar, and also the wine and oil of roses, which are 
no longer used. 

Honey of roses is made by beating up rose-petals with 
a very small portion of boiling water ; the liquid, after 
being filtered, is boiled with honey. This is esteemed for 
sore throats, for ulcers in the mouth, and for anything 
that is benefited by the use of honey. 

The fruit of the rose is said also to possess some astrin- 
gent properties ; the pulp of the fruit of the Avild varie- 
ties, particularly of the dog rose, after being separated 
from the seeds and beaten up in a mortar with sugar, 
makes a sort of conserve, formerly known in medicine 
under the name of Cynorrhodon. 

Children in the country sometimes eat these fruits after 
they have attained perfect maturity, and have been some- 
what mellowed by the frost ; they then lose their pungent 
taste, and become a little sweet. Belanger, a French 
writer, who traveled in Persia in 1825, found in that 
country a rose whose fruit was very agreeably flavored. 
The apple-bearing rose {li, villosa 2^omifera) produces the 
largest fruit of all, and is the best adapted for preserving ; 
but an English writer remarks that the fruit of It. systyla 
and It, arvensiSj although of a smaller size, bears a high- 
er flavor than that of any other species. Rose-buds, like 
the fruit, are also frequently preserved in sugar, and 
pickled in vinegar. Tea is sometimes made of the leaves 
of the rose, which are also eaten readily by the domestic 
animals. 

The ends of the young shoots of the sweet-brier, de- 
prived of their bark and foliage, and cut into short pieces, 
are sometimes candied and sold by the confectioners. 

The Dog Rose takes its name from the virtue which 
the ancients attributed to its root as a cure for hydrophobia. 
The heathen deities themselves, according to Pliny, re- 
9* 



202 



PARSOI^S ON THE ROSE. 



vealed this marvelous property, in dream, to a mother 
whose son had been bitten by a dog affected with this 
terrible disease. 

The excrescences frequently found on the branches of 
the Rose, and particularly on those of the wild varieties, 
known to druggists by the Arabic name oi Bedeguar^ and 
which resemble in form a httle bunch of moss, partake 
equally of the astringent properties of the Rose. These 
excrescences are caused by the puncture of a httle insect, 
known to naturalists as the Cynips rosce^ and, occasion- 
ally, nearly the same effects are produced by other insects. 



CHAPTER XVL 

GENERAL EEMARKS. 

The name of the Rose is very similar in most languages, 
but of its primitive derivation very little or nothing is 
known. It is rhodon in Greek ; rhos^ in Celtic ; ro5a, in 
Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian, and Polish ; 
rose^ in French, Saxon, and ^^sh; rosen^ in German; 
roose^ in Dutch ; rhoshd^ in Sc.c^vonic ; ros^ in Irish ; ruoze^ 
in Bohemian ; oitasrath^ in Arabic ; nisri?i^ in Turkish ; 
chabhatzeleth^ in Hebrew ; and (/ul, in Persian. These are 
the various names by which the flower has been known 
from very early times, and a strong resemblance can be 
traced through all. The Latin name, rosa, also forms a 
component part of terms used to designate several other 
things. 

The name of rosary was given to a string of beads used 
in the Romish Church to represent a certain number of 
prayers ; it was instituted about the year 667, but was not 



GENERxlL REMARKS. 



203 



much used until Peter the Hermit excited the Christian 
nations to the Crusade, about 1096. Dominique, a Romish 
saint, established, in 1207, the brotherhood of the Rosary, 
and the festival of the Rose was instituted in 1571 by 
Pope Pius v., in thanksgiving for the victory gained by 
the Christians over the Turks at Lepante. Subsequent 
popes gave to that ceremony more eclat, and caused it to 
be established in Spain. The name of rosary was former- 
ly also given to the vessel used in distilling rose-water. 
The Rose has also given the idea of new forms of beauty 
in architecture and the arts. A rose is sometimes sculp- 
tured in the centre of each face of a Corinthian capital. 
It is also frequently seen in iron castings for the banisters . 
of the stone steps of a house, and it is sometimes display- 
ed upon the pavement in front of some splendid mansion. 
This, however, is rare in the United States, although fre- 
quent in Europe. 

Among all the imitations of the Rose, none can compare 
with those painted on glass, some of which can be found 
in the windows of celebrated European Cathedrals in 
Canterbury, Cologne, Milan, Rheims, St. Denis, and oth- 
ers. We can scarcely imagine anything more beautifully 
soft than these paintings on glass, as seen from the interi- 
or of a church, in the rich light of a glowing sunset ; the 
Rose thus painted se^ possess all the freshness and 

beauty of the real flower. 

The nave of the Cathedral of Paris, besides twenty-four 
large windows, is lighted by three others, large and mag- 
nificent, in the shape of a Rose, which are each forty feet 
in diameter. The paintings on glass which ornament 
these windows were executed in the 13th century, and 
still retain their fresh and bright colors : that over the 
grand entrance represents the signs of the zodiac, and the 
agricultural labors of each month. 

In heraldry, the rose frequently forms part of a shield, 
in full bloom, with a bud in the centre, and with five 



204 



PAESOXS ON THE EOSE. 



points to imitate thorns ; it is an emblem of beauty and 
of nobility acquired with difficulty. 

The Golden Rose was considered so honorable a present, 
that none but monarchs were worthy to receive it. 

In the 11th century, the Pope introduced the custom of 
blessing a golden Rose, which he presented to some church, 
or to some prince or princess, as an especial mark of his 
favor. 

In 1096, the Pope Urban 11. gave a Golden Rose to the 
Comte d'Anjou. Alexander III. sent one to Louis, King 
of France, in acknowledgment of the attentions of that 
prince during the Pope's visit to France, as stated in a 
letter which he wrote the King. 

" In accordance with the custom of our ancestors, in 
carrying a rose of gold in their hands on Dimanche Laetare, 
we do not think we can present it to one who merits it 
more than yourself, from your devotion to the Church and 
to ourselves." 

Pope John, in 1415, sent the Golden Rose to the Em- 
peror Sigismund. Martin V., in 1418, sent another to the 
same prince. Pius II., in 1461, sent one to Thomas Pale- 
ologue, Emperor of Constantinople. Henry VIII., of 
England, before his separation from the Church of Rome, 
received the Golden Rose twice; the first from Julius II., 
and the second from Leo X. ; and in 1842, the Pojje's 
Nuncio CaiDaccini presented it to Donna Maria, Queen 
of Portugal. Isabella, Queen of Spain, was presented 
with it a few years since. 

The public ceremony of blessing the Rose was not insti- 
tuted until 1366, by Urban V. : that pontifi*, wishing to 
give a particular mark of his esteem to Joanna, Queen of 
Sicily, solemnly blessed a Golden Rose, which he sent her, 
and made at the same time a decree, that a similar one 
should be consecrated CA^ery year. For fifty or sixty 
years, the Pope gave the Rose to princes who came to 
Rome ; and it was the custom to give 500 louis to the 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



205 



officer who carried it for the Pope. The Rose, in its in- 
trinsic value, was, however, sometimes worth double that 
sum. 



We have thus given all the information we have been 
able to collect respecting the history of the Rose. 

We shall feel abundantly gratified if the facts and anec- 
dotes we have cited shall tend to enhance the already 
growing interest in this flower ; and by thus connecting 
it with the lore of antiquity, cast around it a bright halo 
of pleasant associations. 

Among the various riches of the garden, there are many 
flowers of great attractions : some we admire for their 
beautiful forms, others for their brilliant colors, and oth- 
ers again for their delightful fragrance ; and we scarcely 
know which to pronounce the most pleasing. But what- 
ever may be our feelings of admiration for these beautiful 
flowers, a desire for something still more beautiful draws 
us to the Rose, and compels us to pronounce it superior 
to all its rivals. It is the Rose alone that never fatigues, ~ 
that always exhibits some new beauty, and that is never 
affected by fashion ; for while Dahlias and other flowers 
have had their hour of favor, and have passed out of no- 
tice, the Rose has been a favorite for some three thousand 
years, and is still the first and most beautiful, — the chef 
d'^ceuvre of the vegetable kingdom. 

The Rose is rendered a favorite by many pleasant asso- 
ciations. It has been the cherished flower of the ancient 
poets, and with modern poets it has lost none of its 
charms, but is still apostrophized and made an object of 
frequent comparison. With the ancients, it was, as we 
have seen, the ornament of their festivals, their altars, 
and their tombs : it was the emblem of beauty, youth, 
modesty, and innocence, and was full of tender sentiment 



206 



PARSONS ON THE ROSE* 



and pleasant images. A French writer, in a somewhat , 
more extravagant vein of laudation, says, " Its name alone 
gives birth in all sensible minds to a crowd of pleasant 
thoughts, while, at the same time, it excites a sensation 
of the most delightful j^leasures, and the most sweet en- 
joyments." The name of " Queen of Flowers," has been 
given to the Rose, almost from time immemorial; but 
this name is particularly applicable to the H, centifoUa 
and the hybrids from it. Yet the little, modest wild rose, 
found only in woods and hedges, adorns the solitude 
where it grows, and possesses for many a charm not sur- 
passed by that of any of the cultivated varieties : its 
regularly formed corolla, of a soft and delicate color, com- 
bines in its simplicity many an attraction not found in the 
most beautiful flowers of the garden ; and late in the sea- 
son, when the fields are stripped of their verdure, the 
landscape is enlivened by the bright appearance of its red, 
coral-like fruit. 

The beauty of the Rose has j)Teserved it and its reputa- 
tion for many ages. The most populous nations, the 
largest cities, the most wealthy and powerful kingdoms, 
have disappeared from the earth, or have been involved in 
the revolutions and subversions of empires, while a sim- 
ple flower has escaped them all, and still remains to tell 
its story. It has seen a hundred generations succeed each 
other, and pass away ; it has traveled through ages with- 
out changing its destiny or losing its character: the hom- 
age rendered and the love borne it have been always the 
same : now, as in the earliest periods of the world's his- 
tory, it is decreed the first place in the floral kingdom. In 
these days, as in those of antiquity, it is par excellence^ 
the Queen of Flowers, because it is always the most beau- 
tiful, and because no other flower can furnish half its 
charms. To elegance and beauty of form it unites the 
freshness and brilliance of the most agreeable colors, and, 
as if nature had showered upon it all her most precious 



flora's choice. 



207 



gifts, it adds to its other qualities a delightful perfume, 
which alone would suffice to entitle it to a distinguished 
place among the beautiful and pleasant things of the vege- 
table kino-dom. 



FLORA'S CHOICE. 



When Flora, from her azure home, 
Came gently down to grace the earth. 
She called around her every sprite 
To which the sunny air gives birtb, 
And bade them search each distant realm 
Of tropic heat or temperate clime. 
From cold New England's rocky hills 
To Santa Crusian groves of lime. 
And bring each floweret, rich and rare. 
For her to choose her favorite there. 

Quick flew the sprites o'er land and sea, 
Through cloud, and mist, and storm afar, 
Catching, with rapid, eagle glance, 
The beauties of each opening flower : 
From Alpine heights they bore a prize, 
From Persia and from Hindostan ; 
For many a bud of beauty rare 
They searched the central, flowery land. 
And, filled with treasures rich and sweet, 
They hasten'd to their mistress' feet. 

Camellia, with its lustrous white 
And glossy leaves of emerald hue ; 



208 



PARSONS OI^" THE KOSE. 



Verbena, with its brilliant red, 

And Heath just touch'd with mountain dew ; 

Azalea, whose aerial form 

Seems scarcely of terrestrial birth ; 

And Cinerara's purple star, 

Gracing full well its mother earth ; 

And many a flower from tropic skies 

Strove mingled there to gain the prize. 

But not the richest tropic blooms, 
Cull'd from the fairest climes on earth, 
Could vie with nature's fairest flower. 
Of Iran's sun-clad soil the birth ; 
Though clothed in rich and gorgeous hues. 
They bore no charm of fragrance there. 
In form and color, sweetness, grace — 
None with the Rose could once compare : 
She bore the palm in Flora's eyes. 
Who to the Rose adjudged the prize. 

S. B. P. 



THE ROSE. 



Though many a flower has graced the lay 
And formed the theme of poets' song — 
Has gently flowed in Grecian phrase. 
Or tripjDcd upon the Roman's tongue ; 
Yet, still, in ancient song and story 
The Rose shines forth in beauty rare, 
Enveloped with a halo bright, 
And made so glorious, rich, and fair, 



THE ROSE. 



209 



That all the flowers must yield their seat, 

And lay their beauty at its feet. 

Anacreon sang its primal birth, 

Old Homer praised its form of grace, 

Catullus boasted of its charms, 

Horace, its richly tinted face : 

In fair Italia' s glowing words, 

Tasso and Metastasio sang ; 

And 'mong the groves of far Cathay 

The Persian Hafiz' accents rano*. 

The flowing tones of old Castile, 

From Camoens and Sannazar, 

And in our own pure English tongue 

It was the signal note of war ; 

In many a poet's verse its beauty shone, — 

Milton, the Bard of Avon, and the Great Unknown. 

Hig^h valued were its flowers brio-ht 

By Helle's maids of yore ; 

It graced their scenes of festive glee 

In the classic vales of Arcady, 

And all the honors bore ; 

And shed its frag^rance on the breeze 

That swept through academic grove, 

Where sages with their scholars rove — 

The land of Pericles. 

In the sunny clime of Suristan, 

On India's burning shore. 

Amid the Brahmin's sacred shades. 

Or in the wreaths that Persian maids, 

Sporting in bright and sunny glades 

In graceful beauty Avore ; 

Upon the banks of Jordan's stream 

Still flowing softly on, 

Where Judah's maidens once did lave, 

Or where the lofty cedars wave, 

On time-worn Lebanon ; 



210 



PAKSOXS OX THE EOSE. 



The Rose is still most rich and sweet, 

And wears the crown for beauty meet. 

I have basked in the beauty of southern climes, 

And wandered through groves of palm and limes, 

Where dark-eyed Spanish girls 

Would linger in their myrtle bowers,— 

With garlands rich of orange flowers 

Would weave their raven curls, 

And fasten 'mid their lustrous hair 

The fire-fly's glittering light. 

Which, brighter than the diamond's sheen. 

Bursts on the dazzled sio-ht. 

But yet I would not give for these, 

Produce of tropic sun and breeze — 

For all the flowers in beauty there — 

The Rose our northern maidens wear. 

I've crossed the Andes' lofty height, 

Its mountains, forest-crowned, 

And 'mong the devious, tangled paths 

Of tropic thickets wound. 

In fair Aragua's fertile vale. 

In Hayti's fields of bloom, 

I've marked the prickly Cactus tribe 

Its richest tints assume. 

I've passed through fragrant Coffee groves. 

By the tall Bucara tree, 

And by the Cocoa and the Palm, 

With the Trupeol warbling free ; 

Upon the flower-clad turf, and where 

The rich Orcliidia climbs in air. 

But not 'mid all this gorgeous bloom. 

By tropic climate wove, 

'Nov Florida's rich Mao-nolia 

And fragrant Orange grove ; 

Nov the graceful vines of southern France, 

Nov Italy's fair bowers. 



THE KOSE. 



211 



Xor England's lofty domes of glass 
All filled with gorgeous flowers ; 
Nor in our own wide prairie land, 
With bud and bloom on every hand, 
Is there a single flower that grows 
Can vie in beauty w^ith the Rose. 

Then seek, in southern, tropic air, 

And in our northern glade, 

And in the bright and gay parterre, 

And by the forest shade. 

Where every flower, and leaf, and tree, 

In graceful blending met, 

Presents new beauty to the eye. 

Of azure or of jet ; 

And take each blossom, rich and rare, 
Which thou may'st find in beauty there ; 
Combine their color, form, and grace, 
And each unpleasant tint erase ; 
Then recreate the loveliest flower 
That e'er shed fragrance in a bower ; 
Let all its sweets and charms unclose ; 
It cannot equal yet the Rose. 

s. B. p. 



INDEX. 



Arbor for Roses 96 

Bedding Roses 100 

Botanical Classification 7 

Diseases— Mildew 140 

Mould 141 

Rust 140 

Eglantine 19 

Forcing 103 

Garden Classification 27 

General Culture 69 

Hybridizing 130 

Insects— Gall-flies 142 

Green-fly 141 

Rose-bug , 146 

Rose-slug 143 

Rose Leaf-hopper 151 

Multiplication by Seed 130 

Pillar Roses ^ 94 

Planting 89 

Potting 102 

Propagation — Budding 120 

Cuttings m 

Grafting 125 

Leaf-cuttings 116 

Layers 117 

Suckers 120 

Pruning 93 

Pyramids of Roses. . , 95 

Poetry— Flora's Choice 207 

The Rose 208 

J^osa agrestis 19 

alba 19 

arvensis 20 

atrovirem 22 

BcUearica 22 

Banksise . 25 

Bdgica 15-17 

Uferc: 15 

Uanda 17 

bracteata 12 

Burgundiaca 18 

ccdendarum , 15 

canina 20 

caryophyllea 16 

212 



centifolia 16 

var. bipinnata 17 

muscosa 17 

pomponia 17 

provincialis 19 

Bamascena 15 

diffusa . . 22 

Eglantena 19 

Jla^ci 22 

Jlorida 22 

Gallica 17 

var. parvifolia 18 

glanduUfera 24 

glauca 20 

glaucescens 20 

glaucophylla 13 

fiemispherica 13 

holosericea 17 

Indica 21 

var. Noisettiana 21 

odoratissima 21 

Indica fragrans 22 

Laurenciana .' 22 

lutea.. 13 

Jlore pleno 13 

microphylla 12 

moschata 24 

multiflora 22 

var. Boursaulti 24 

Grevillei 23 

Russelliana 24 

nitens 20 

odoratissima 22 

platyphylla 23 

polyantkos 16 

provincialis 16 

remensis 18 

Moxburghii 23 

rubiginosa 19 

rubra 17 

rugosa 26 

scandens 32 

sempervirens 22 

sempervirens globosa 23 



INDEX. 



213 



Mosa seniicosa 20 

spiiiosissima 14 

siiavifolia 19 

sulphurea 13 

sylvatica VX 

Teneriffensis 20 

unguiculata 16 

mrians 16 

Eose— Adornment of Burial-place 8.167 

Attar of 187 

Conserve of 199 

Early History of. 153 

Early Works on 9 

Electuary of 200 

Geographical Distribution of. 11 

Honey of. 201 

In Ceremonies and Festivals. 167 

In the Middle Ages 175 

Luxurious Use of 161 

Medical Properties 198 

Otto of 187 

Perfumes of 185 

Syrup of. 200 

Tables Concerning 153 

Tincture of. 200 

Vinegar of 200 

Rose-water 191 

Rose-leaves 196 

Roses, Classes of— Ayrshire 62 

Banksian , 63 

Bourbon 37 

Boursault 64 

Brier 59 

China 41 

Damask 52 

Evergreen 65 

French 53 

Garden 52 

Roses— Hybrid Bourbon 52 

Hybrid China 52 

Hybrid Climbing 66 

Hybrid Provence 52 

Macartney 50 

Microphylla 51 

Moss 56 

Multiflora 67 

Musk 51 

Noisette 42 

Prairie 68 

Provence 52 

Remontant 30 

Remontant Moss 37 

Remontant Scotch 37 



Roses, Scotch 59 

Tea 44 

White 52 

Situation , 88 

Soil 86 

Sweet Brier 19 

VARIETIES AND SPECIES. 

Abricot^ 44 

Achille Goudot 33 

Acidalie 39 

Adam 44 

Adam Paul 32 

Adele Mauze 33 

AFeuilles Pourpres 56 

Agrippina 41 

Aimee Vibert 42 

Alba odorata 51 

Amadis 65 

America 43 

Appoline 39 

A quatre Saisons 15 

Archduke Charles 41 

Ardoise de Lyon 32 

Auguste Mie 32 

Auguste Vacher 44 

Baltimore Belle 68 

Banksia 25 

Barbot 44 

Baronne de Maynard 33 

Baronne de Wassenaer 56 

Baronne Prevost 33 

Belle Normande 33 

BUish Boursault 65 

Bougere 44 

Boursault 24 

Burgundy 18 

Cabbage 16 

Captain Ingram 56 

Caroline 45 

Caroline de Marinesse 43 

Caroline de Sansal 33 

Celestial 60 

Celine de Forestier 43 

Cels multiflora 41 

Charles Lawson 54 

Charles Lefebvre 33 

Cli^nedole 54 

Chromatella 43 

Clara Sylvain 45 

Clementine Duval 33 

Common White 19 

Common Moss 56 



214 



PARS0J5"S OX THE ROSE. 



Comte Bobrinsky 39 

Comte de Paris 45 

Comtesse de Murinais 56 

Copper Austrian 60 

Cornelia Koch 43 

Countess of Glasgow 59 

Coupe d'Hebe 55 

Cristata.. 56 

Daily Blush 41 

" White 42 

Damascus 15 

Damask 15 

David Pradel 45 

De la Grifferaie 67 

Delphine Gaudot 45 

Devoniensis 45 

Diane de Castre 57 

Dog. 20 

Double Blush Ayrshire 63 

Double-margined Hip 60 

Double White Banksian 64 

Double Yellow 13 

Double Yellow Banksian 64 

Double Yellow Provence 60 

Dremont 45 

Due de Cazes 33 

Due de Magenta 45 

Duchesse de Caylus. 33 

Duchesse d'lstrie 57 

Duchesse d'Orleans 45 

Duchess of Sutherland 33 

Duchesse de Thuringe 39 

Dundee Rambler 63 

Eglantine 19 

Eliza Sauvage 45 

Elizabeth Yigneron 34 

Emerance 55 

Enfant d'Ajaccio 39 

Enfant de Lyon 45 

Enfant de Mt. Carmel 34 

Eponine 52 

Eugene Beauharnais 42 

Eugene de Savoie 37, 57 

Eugene Desgaches 45 

Eugenie Jovin 45 

Evergreen 22 

Felicite Perpetuelle 65 

Fortuniana 64 

French 17 

Gem of the Prairie 68 

General Jacqueminot 34 

General Lamoriciere 42 

General Tartas 46 



General Washington 34 

George the Fourth 55 

Gigantesque , , 46 

Giant of Battles 34 

Gloire de Dijon 46 

Gloire des Mousseuses 57 

Gloire de Eosamene 39 

Grandiflora 46 

Grevillei 67 

Harrisonii 62 

Hermosa 40 

Henry IV .. 34 

Home(- 46 

Hooker- s Blush 57 

Hortense Yernet 57 

Hundred-petaled 16 

Imperatrice Josephine... 40 

Indica major 66 

Isabella Gray 43 

Isabella Sprunt 46 

Jacques Lafitte 34 

Jane ; 69 

Jaune d'Or 46 

Jaune Serin 64 

Jeanne d'Arc 43 

Jenny Lind 57 

Joasine Hanet 34 

John Hopper 34 

Joseph Gourdon 40 

Jules Margottin 34 

Julie d'Etranges 55 

Julie Mansais 46 

Kate Hausburg 34 

Lady Banks , 25 

Lamarque 43 

Laneii.... 57 

La Heine 35 

Large-bracted 12 

Laura Davoust , 67 

Le Geant 35 

Le Phoenix , 42 

Lion des Combats 35 

Lord Clyde 35 

Louis de Savoy , 46 

Louis Philippe 42 

Louis Yan Houtte 35 

Luxembourg 57 

Lybnnais 46 

Macartney 12 

Madame Alfred de Eougemont. .... 35 

" Boll 35 

" Bravy 46 

" Breon 42 



IXDEX. 



Madame d'Arblay G6 

" de Rochelambert 5t 

de Tartas 48 

" de Vatry 46 

" Edouard Oiy 37, 57 

" Falcot 4G 

Gustavo Bonnett 35 

" Halphin 46 

" Jouvin 44 

" Louise Carique 35 

" Lacharmc 40 

Morand 35 

" Plan tier 55 

" Trotter 35 

" Villerraoz 48 

Many-flowered 22 

Marechal Mel 48 

Maria Leonida 51 

Marquise de Foucault 48 

Mathurin Regnier 35 

Maurice Bernardin. 36 

Melanie de Montjoie 66 

Menoux 66 

Microphylla rubra 51 

Mrs. Bosanquet 42 

" Hovey 69 

Moss 17 

Most Spiny 14 

Musk 24 

Myrianthes 66 

Niphetos 48 

Noisette 21 

Nuits de Young 57 

Obscurity 55 

CEillet Parfait 55 

Ophire 44 

Pactole 48 

Palais de Cristal 36 

Perpetual White 37, 58 

Persian Yellow 62 

Pierre de St. Cyr 40 

Pius IX 36 

iPoenee 36 

Polonie Bordin 48 

Pompone 17 

President 48 

Pride of Washington 69 

Prince Camille de Rohan 36 



Princessc Adelaide 

Princess of Nassau 

Princess Royal 

Provence 

Queen of Lombardy 

" May 

" the Bourbons 

" the Prairies 

Raphael 

Reine des Yiolettes 

Reynolds Hole 

Rose Angle 

Rubens ... 

Russelliana 

Rusty-leaved 

Safrano 

Salet 

Sanguinea 

Scotch 

Seven Sisters 

Silene 

Sir John Sebright 

Sir Joseph Paxton 

Small Leafleted 

Solfaterre 

Sombreuil 

Souvenir de Lady Eardley 
" de la Malmaison 
" de Lcveson Gower 
" de Reine d'Angleter 

" d'un Ami 

Stanwell 

Sulphur-colored 

Sweet Brier 

Sydonie 

Tea-scented China.. 

The Garland 

Triomphe d' Amiens 

Triomphe de Bollwiller 

Tricolor de Flandre 

Triomphe de Guillot Fils 

Triomphe de Rennes 

Yicomtesse de Cazes 

Yictor Trouillard 

White Tea 

William Lobb 

William the Fourth 

Yolaude d'Arragon 



PRACTICAL FLORICULTURE; 

A Guide to the Successful Propagation and Oultivation 

OF 

FLORISTS? FLAKTTS. 

By peter HENDERSON, Bergeit City, N. J., 

ATJTHOR OF ''GAEDENING FOR PROFIT." 



Mr. Henderson is known as tlie largest Commercial Florist 
in the country. In the present work lie gives a full account of his 
modes of propagation and cultivation. It is adapted to the wants 
of the amateur, as well as the professional grower. 

The scope of the work may be judged from the following 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



Aspect and Soil. 

Laying out Lawn and Flow- 
er Gardens. 

Designs for Flower Gardens. 

Planting of Flower Beds. 

Soils for Potting. 

Temperature and Moisture. 

The Potting of Plants. 

Cold Frames — Winter Pro- 
tection. 

Construction of Hot-Beds. 

Greenhouse Structures. 

Modes of Heating. 

Propagation by Seeds. 

Propagation by Cuttings. 

Propagation of Lilies. 

Culture of the Rose. 

Culture of the Verbena. 

Culture of the Tuberose. 



Orchid Culture. 
Holland Bulbs. 
Cape Bulbs. 

Winter-Flowering Plants. 
Construction of Bouquets. 
Hanging Baskets. 
Window Gardening. 
Rock-Work. 
Insects. 

Nature's Law of Colors. 
Packing Plants. 
Plants by Mail. 
Profits of Floriculture. 
Soft- Wooded Plants. 
Annuals. 

Hardy Herbaceous Plants. 
Greenhouse Plants. 
Diary of Operations for each 
Day of the Year. 



Beautifully Illustrated. Sent post-paid. Price, SI.50. 

ORANGE JUDD & CO., 

24:5 Broadway, New- Fork. 




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